2006-05-02

Oilers Playoffs 2006: 4 wins down, 12 to go

Wow.

That was a game that Edmonton had no right, I repeat, no right to win. Outshot, outplayed, outscored, outhustled, outworked, outskilled...for two periods Detroit took to Edmonton like a rag doll. While again Roloson didn't stand on his head or do any of the Joseph/Salo heroics we've seen in years past, he was solid: only one of the two goals Detroit scored was essentially "stoppable". Solid was a requirement though: for 40 minutes, Roloson had to face 27 shots on goal whilst Legace only faced 17. He kept them in the game for the heroics though: Pisani scores 2 in under 4 minutes to tie the game. Detroit gets ahead again, when Hemsky scores 2 in under 3 minutes to put the Oilers in the lead. In fact, Edmonton played with a tie for 21:56, was behind for 36:58, and only spent 1:06 -- one minute and six seconds -- in the lead.. and that was the last minute of the game.

And so with that, Edmonton moves onto Round 2 for the first time since McGuire and Sosa were battling for a home run record. And was there a FlamesGirls.com style party on Whyte Ave afterwards?


You'd better believe it!


(Note: Scott Baptist took an incredible photo of the corner of 82nd and 105th next to Squires that appears on the front page of today's Edmonton Journal...tragically I can't find a trace of it online)

Update, 9:45am: Or, I could just use my digital camera to photograph the picture. It's not great, but here it is: