Oilers overwhelmed by Blues 7-2

Edmonton's Dustin Penner and St. Louis' Jay McClement battle for the puck Monday night at Rexall Place. The Blues went on to win 7-2. (Photo by Andy Devlin / Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club)

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PRE-GAME

Preview Game Notes Head-to-Head Stats Comparison Game Program Video interviews Audio Interviews

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Watch the highlights Oilers comments from Tom Gilbert, Ethan Moreau, Devan Dubnyk & Pat Quinn The Other Side: Andy McDonald & Head Coach Andy Murray after the win

AUDIO

Audio Highlights Ethan Moreau Tom Gilbert Devan Dubnyk Pat Quinn

THREE STARS

Alex Steen, STL - 1g + 3a Patrik Berglund, STL - 1g + 1a Andy McDonald, STL - 2g

UPDATE

With the loss, the Oilers fall to 15-17-4 and slip into last place in the Western Conference with 34 points.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Oilers travel to Minnesota to play their last game before Christmas on Wednesday, December 23. The game starts at 5:00pm MST and will be broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet West.

by Jen Sharpe | edmontonoilers.com

The Oilers were in decent shape with a 2-2 tie and commanding shot lead by the midway point of the second period, but like in Saturday's loss to Washington, the team lost their grip in the latter half. St. Louis posted five unanswered goals, including four on the powerplay, to beat the Oilers 7-2 Monday night.

Sam Gagner and Dustin Penner scored Edmonton's goals, while rookie goalie Devan Dubnyk made 19 saves in his first NHL start.

FIRST PERIOD

Making his first career NHL start, Devan Dubnyk watched his club test Chris Mason with two shots before he was challenged with the puck at the opposite end of the ice. A hooking minor to Robert Nilsson then helped the Blues tally another shot, but the rookie goalie turned it away to keep the opening goal off the clock.

But a minute after the return of five-on-five, David Perron lit the lamp. While stationed in Dubnyk's crease, Perron caught Patrik Berglund's behind-the-net pass and redirected it into the net to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

At the period's midway point, Edmonton evened it up. Although Andrew Cogliano couldn't get the puck past Mason on his partial breakaway, Sam Gagner was right behind him and tapped home the rebound to make it 1-1.

The Oilers maintained a confident shot lead through the rest of the frame, but Mason turned away the extra attempts to push the tied game into the second period.

SECOND PERIOD

Edmonton dominated the first minutes of the second to take a 15-5 shot lead. At 3:28, Zack Stortini added some toughness to the firepower by participating in a short fight with B.J. Crombeen.

With both players serving fighting majors, the Blues went on the attack and got their second goal of the night. From the top of Dubnyk's crease, Andy McDonald slid the puck under the goalie to renew the Blues' lead.

After the first fight sparked St. Louis, Edmonton's Jean-Francois Jacques hoped a second fight would do the same for his team and he went toe-to-toe with Brad Winchester near the penalty boxes.

It took only 40 seconds for the tactic to pay off. With the four fighters watching from the penalty boxes, Dustin Penner fired from deep in the Blues zone and sunk a sharp-angle shot to tie the game at two.

The Blues benefited from their second powerplay with less than seven minutes on the clock, and the advantage resulted in the game's first powerplay goal -- but not by the usual means. Although Brad Boyes saw his shot fly through the crease, Oilers defenceman Ladislav Smid accidentally tapped it past Dubnyk to gift St. Louis another lead.

Unfortunately for the Oil, the goals kept coming for the other side. With Lubomir Visnovsky serving a hooking minor, Berglund caught a piece of Paul Kariya's slapshot to put the visitors up 4-2. Then 39 seconds later, Jay McClement lifted the puck above Dubnyk to make it 5-2.

As a result of the three-goal comeback, the Oilers found themselves up five shots but down three goals after 40 minutes.

THIRD PERIOD

Edmonton's penalty woes continued early in the third, and the Blues capitalized for the third time. From the right point, McDonald wired the puck through traffic to increase the visitors' cushion to four goals.

The Oilers and Blues stayed even on the shot clock as the game wound down, but before time expired, Alex Steen added another powerplay goal to St. Louis' tally, making it 7-2.

The five-goal comeback, including four on the powerplay, sealed Edmonton's fourth consecutive loss.