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Click here to email Jim Kerr
3/9/2010
A third period meltdown cost the Edmonton Oilers two points in a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Rexall Place on Tuesday night.
Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson had a game-high three assists, while Matt Cullen kicked off a three-goal third period with his 14th of the season, a goal that would stand as the game-winner. It's the second time since the Olympic break that the Oil have been tied heading into the third period and have then given up three goals, while being heavily outshot.
In all, the Senators went 2-for-9 with the man advantage, while the Oilers went 0-for-4.
"When you play five-on-four you're going to score once in a while," said goalie Jeff Deslaurier, who made 35 saves on the night, "but if the game is 1-1 and you're playing more on the [penalty kill] then you slash your chance of winning obviously."
Defenseman Tom Gilbert echoed that statement, saying "if you give a team like that, with that amount of skill, that many power plays you know they're going to capitalize on one of them."
"When you're not moving the puck the right way and you're not making plays, it's going to be in your end the whole game," said Oilers forward Sam Gagner. "It's frustrating to try and come back from that, if you're chasing around the puck all game, it's never fun."
"We're a young team here, we've got to try and get better, especially offensively."
The best offensive chances of a penalty-filled first period came in the final two and a half minutes, with Oilers forward Mike Comrie missing a penalty shot and Edmonton goalie Jeff Deslaurier clearing a puck off the goal line with just 44-seconds left. Comrie was interfered with by Senators defenseman Brian Lee, but was unable to beat Brian Elliot with a low shot. Not long afterwards on an Ottawa power play, Sens forward Mike Fisher directed the puck towards the front of the net and it hit the skate of Taylor Chorney - but a video review showed the glove of Deslaurier stopping it from crossing the line.
After 30 penalty minutes in the first period, the second featured just one minor penalty each way and the game's first two goals, starting with the home team. Edmonton's Fernando Pisani opened the scoring in the second period, picking up a rebound in front of the Ottawa net and roofing it over a sprawling Elliot at the 4:27 mark for his third of the season, with defenseman Aaron Johnson picking up his first point as an Oiler on the play. A few outstanding saves by Jeff Deslaurier kept the Sens off the board until late in the period, when Chris Kelly beat him from a sharp angle at 16:18 for his 12th of the campaign. That ended a streak of just over 111-minutes of shutout hockey for the Oilers netminder.
The Senators pulled ahead in the third period with a goal on their sixth power play of the night when Matt Cullen blasted a low point shot past Deslaurier at 8:24. Just 1:26 later, on their 30th shot of the night, Mike Fisher picked up a scrambled puck in the Oilers zone and potted his 21st goal, firing it five-hole. The Senators got their second power play goal of the night eight seconds into a two-man advantage when Milan Michalek potted his 22nd goal of the season at 13:09, retaking the team lead.
Senators goalie Brian Elliot turned away 18 of the 19 shots he faced at the other end for the win after missing Ottawa's weekend game with the flu.
The Oilers will be in Montreal to face the Canadiens on Thursday night (5:30pm, 630 CHED). (jk)
On the Net:
Oilers.NHL.com
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