Same drek, different pile as goaltending and special teams sag in 5-2 loss in Game Five in Dallas.

Lineup
Smyth	Marchant	Hemsky	Smith	Staios
Chimera	Horcoff	York	Cross	Brewer
Moreau	Reasoner	Pisani	Semenov	Ferguson
Isbister	Comrie	Laraque	Salo
			Markkanen
Scratched: Dvorak - hand.... Swanson, Cleary, Bergeron - Healthy...

Postgame

A lot of things have to go right for the Oilers to knock off the Stars. Maybe it was too much to ask that the boys from Northern Alberta break even with Dallas in terms of special teams. It certainly looked like a mismatch for Salo to equal Marty Turco. But early on Turco was allowing a soft goal per game and even though Dallas has lapped the Oilers in terms of special team goals, the fact that Salo was bettering Turco had the Oilers even at two games heading into the fifth game.

But then came Game Five.

Marty Turco would allow a softie but Salo allowed two and the Oilers special teams were terrible and now it's do or die heading back to Edmonton for Game Six.

There were talks of discipline heading into this affair but apparently it didn't permeate the helmet of one Ethan Moreau. The rough and tumble right winger shoved an early first period stick into the mouth of Scott Young and it was a four minute man advantage for the home side.

Edmonton broke out on a three on one shorthanded break but it was foiled by a bad pass from Marty Reasoner. But Salo would save them for one of the few times this game when Brendan Morrow was stopped off the left wing off the corresponding turnover.

Of course the Oilers reprieve was short lived as Marchant failed to clear the zone and Young would slap his revenge home on the short side and Salo was very slow to slide over.

It was 2-0 in short order as the Stars PP struck yet again. This time it was the lumbering Scott Ferguson with the two minute sojourn after another bit of undisciplined business regarding Kirk Mller. Sergei Zubov sifted one through a screen 17 seconds after this indiscretion.

Shots were 10-4 Dallas after the first and stupid penalties minutes stood at six to none in favor of the Mighty and at times Flighty Oil.

And the flightiest one came into play on Dallas third goal as Salo let out his umpteenth greasy rebound and Mike Modano slapped home the 3-0 goal.

Zubov made it 4-0 early in the frame before Mike Comrie and Eric Brewer scored late to halve the deficit. Edmonton actually had a chance to bring it to a one goal margin but Mike York was bested in tight and Steve Staios failed to corral a point pass that had found him unmanned.

Manny Malholtra scored into the empty net and the death watch began in Edmonton.

Three Stars

Sergei Zubov - Two goals and an assist. Three shots on goal and 22:49 of icetime

Mike Modano - A goal and two assists. A very economical 17:22 of icetime.

Scott Young - A goal and an assist. Six shots in 16:18.

Oil Gauge

A much more effective game by Mike Comrie. He scored his first goal of the series and actually created another couple of chances for his Bookend wingers, Isbister and Laraque. 17:01 of icetime and he was 12/19 from the faceoff circle....17:57 of icetime in yet another dissapointing offensive effort from Todd Marchant. He was a -2 and went just 5/12 from the circle....Jason Chimera logged 11:03 and had two shots on net and had an assist. It was his first action of the series.

News & Notes

The Oilers went 0/3 on the PP but actually had two glorious chances to score. One off a tip by Mike York and another on a jam play with Ryan Smyth. It's not a small victory by any stretch but it may be a start......One glaring mistake by Alexei Semenov early in the third period but otherwise a very steady and smart 13:42......13:55 and some screens from Brad Isbister. Doesn't seem to have quick enough hands to finish down low, though.

Next Game

Game Six goes at 6PM MST on Saturday and can be seen on HNIC.