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Dispatch

OILERS 4 BLUE JACKETS 1
Oilers? quick scores knock Jackets flat

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

</IMG> Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire watches the puck sail into his goal in the second period.

Maybe it?s time for the Blue Jackets to bring back that overweight, shirtless guy. Not to dance; to play forward. A night after flexing their muscles in a win over lowly St. Louis, the Blue Jackets looked fragile and slow last night in a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Nationwide Arena. A crowd of 16,902 was unusually quiet. There wasn?t much to cheer after Edmonton took a 2-0 lead with two goals in the first 2:18 of the second period. "That took a lot out of us," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "It shouldn?t have. But it did."
Oilers left winger Ryan Smyth, who loves playing against the Blue Jackets, had two goals. Ales Hemsky and Joffrely Lupul also scored for Edmonton, which had lost four in a row before it arrived in the Nationwide Wellness Center last night.
The Blue Jackets? only score was a power- play goal by Anson Carter midway through the second period.
Mostly, the Blue Jackets spent their night on the perimeter, firing odd-angle shots and only half-heartedly looking for rebounds. Their best line was the fourth line, with scrappers Jody Shelley, Alexander Svitov and Steve Goertzen.
"Our top guys didn?t show up tonight," Gallant said. "If we?re going to win, the top six guys have to be better than that. I thought we looked tired in the second half of the game."
Falling behind 2-0 so quickly in the second period stunned the Blue Jackets. And it?s how the goals were scored that made such a difference.
On the first shift of the period, the Blue Jackets had a prime scoring chance when Carter pounced on a rebound with goaltender Dwayne Roloson out of position. Carter?s backhand attempt might have been altered by hard-charging defenseman Jason Smith, but Carter?s shot hit the post and caromed away.
"You get a great chance on one end," Carter said, "and if you don?t bury it, it seems like it starts going the other way in a hurry. All you can hope for is a great save."
That?s what happened, minus the great save.
With speed, the Oilers started the other way. Hemsky led the rush, but instead of passing ? as is his preference ? he let loose a wrist shot that befuddled goaltender Pascal Leclaire, beating him stick side to the far post.
The Oilers made it 2-0 only 98 seconds later. After Jackets defenseman Anders Eriksson failed twice to clear the puck, Lupul was set up on the right dot and beat Leclaire stick side with a wrist shot.
"The first two goals hurt us," Leclaire said. "I?d like to see those two again. It was a tight game, and then all of a sudden it?s 2-0. I?ll take the blame for those two. Those two goals were the turning point, I think. That?s on me."
Smyth, who has 12 goals in 20 games against Columbus, scored off a rebound at 12:40 of the second period to make it 3-0.
Then came Carter?s goal, his second of the season and first since Oct. 9. Rick Nash and Sergei Fedorov played tic-tactoe, with Nash feeding Carter in the high slot for a wrister that tucked under the crossbar.
The Oilers got the goal back early in the third period.
At 2:07 of the period, Smyth got behind Svitov and finished off a three-on-two rush to make it 4-1.
It was a sobering night for the Blue Jackets (5-8-1), who haven?t won back-to-back games since Oct. 9.
"We have to find our way back to .500," defenseman Rostislav Klesla said. "We have to put wins together now. That?s what good teams do.
"We can?t just win one, lose one. We can?t get too far behind the pack (in the Western Conference)."
aportzline@dispatch.com