The Edmonton Oilers finished up their four game road trip, just like they started it, with a loss to a struggling team. Difference being, the Oilers blew a 2-1 third period lead to the Colorado Avalanche and ended up taking in on the chin 5-2. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk gave up three goals in the third period.

PHOTO CREDIT - EdmontonOilers.com

Edmonton - November 27, 2011 - The Edmonton Oilers finished up their four game road trip, just like they started it, with a loss to a struggling team. Difference being, the Oilers blew a 2-1 third period lead to the Colorado Avalanche and ended up taking in on the chin 5-2. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk gave up three goals in the third period, on shots from the blueline, two of which he should have had. To make matters worse, the team lost the services of winger Taylor Hall for the foreseeable future. The talented youngster suffered an apparent shoulder injury, after Avs defenceman, Ryan Wilson, took Hall out with a crushing body check early in the first period.

In what was a very lack luster affair, Edmonton handed their their division rivals two points, that they frankly had no business getting. It was clear the Oilers had little left in the tank, after Friday afternoon's big victory in Minnesota but they were the better team after forty and were deserving of their 2-1 advantage. That all changed in third, when the wheels came off and Dubnyk suddenly was unable to make a stop.

The Oilers did manage to open the scoring, this time from the unlikeliest of sources. Defenceman Ladislav Smid took a beautiful feed from Sam Gagner and blasted his first goal in almost two years. Gagner managed to pull Avs netminder Semyon Varlamov outside of his net, with a quick move and after ducking in behind the Colorado goal, he quickly fed the fast charging Smid, who had a yawning cage to deposit the puck. Just like that, Edmonton was up by one but things would soon take a turn for the worse.

Shortly after Smid's goal, Taylor Hall was chasing the puck deep into the Avs zone, when Wilson caught him in a vulnerable position and sent the Oilers winger flying into the boards. It wasn't a dirty hit by any stretch but the Avs D man made certain, he didn't let up on the 2010 first overall selection. Hall immediately picked himself up off the ice but you could see his left arm hanging motionless by his side. To make maters worse, Colorado gained possession and moved the puck up ice, getting an odd man rush into the Edmonton zone. Dubnyk made the first save with a nifty poke-check on forward Chuck Kobasew but while he was swimming on the ice, doing his best Bill Ranford impression, Jay McClement knocked in the rebound, to even the score.

Hall would return to the game after missing only one shift but he would leave for good before the period was out. As Edmonton were buzzing in the Avalanche zone, Hall was given a quick cross check to his left arm by Kyle Quincey and that was it...his night was over.

With # 4 out for the rest of the game, Head Coach Tom Renney decided to fill his spot with a trio of players. He rotated Anton Lander, Magnus Paajarvi and Ryan Jones on that line and Lander was by far and away the best of the bunch. Edmonton did manage to regain their lead early in the second period, when Jones went to the net and tapped in the Eric Bleanger rebound past the Avs Russian keeper. The score remained that way, until Edmonton did their best to just hand the Avalanche two points.

The Oilers were given an early power play in the third but created very little. On the flipside, as time was running out on the Oiler power play, centre Eric Belanger had his shot from the point blocked and Chuck Kobasew corralled the puck, broke in on Dubnyk but was held up by Ryan Whitney from getting a clear chance on goal. With Whitney still in the box, Jeff Petry took a slashing minor and just like that, the home side had a two man advantage. Colorado didn't connect on the five-on-three but did tie it up, before the Petry minor had expired. Shane O'Brien was credited with his first off the season on a blast from the point, that deflected off centre Anton Lander and past the Oilers netminder.

Less then two minutes later, the Avalanche took their first lead of the game when defenceman Stephan Elliot's point shot, somehow eluded Dubnyk. While he did have a partial screen from Ladislav Smid to contend with, that is a shot that must be stopped...especially at that stage of the game. As if the go ahead goal wasn't bad enough, Dubnyk then allowed a shot, from Jan Hejda, to somehow squeeze threw him and suddenly the visitors were staring at a two goal deficit, with less then four minutes to go.

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