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Wednesday, November 25, 1998
Av-solute composure
Which usually means another disappointing loss for the Edmonton Oilers. At least in the regular season.
The Oilers are 2-14-2 in regular-season games against the Avs since the franchise moved to Denver and have been outscored by a whopping 81-43 margin. Included in that ugly mark is a brutal 0-6-2 record at home.
Which makes tonight's matchup at Skyreach Centre that much more significant.
Or does it?
"They're all critical," said Oilers assistant coach Kevin Lowe. "You look at it game to game and say, 'This is a big game.'
"We like where we are right now (in the standings), even though point-wise we're not legitimately second in standings. We just need to win hockey games and stay where we are.
"I think we deserve to be there and there's no reason why we can't be there all year. We just have to go out and win hockey games."
Tonight that may be easier said than done. The Avs are just three points behind the Oilers in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference - there's little room to stumble.
And Edmonton's futile record suggests there is a certain mystique when it comes to facing the Avs, who maybe get a little more room and too much respect from the Oil.
"There are some high-powered names there for guys who have never played them before," offered assistant coach Ted Green. "I'm sure there are guys who have to be in awe of some of the very skilled players they've got.
"You've got to be a little bit aware of (Joe) Sakic and (Peter) Forsberg and there is a certain mystique about Patrick Roy - maybe he bothers some people.
"He has a great past and maybe he's having problems this year, but he seems to come up big for us."
But the bottom line is the Oilers need to snap out of this slump, dig out from under that Avalanche that has buried them during regular-season play.
"There are all sorts of reasons ...," began Green. "You can make every excuse in the world and none of them will help you win.
"This game (tonight) there are no excuses at all. We're a team that has been playing well. We're rested, not tired; it's a home game and we have to be more determined to play better at home than we have."
Edmonton's game plan appears simple enough: take advantage of a depleted Colorado defence that remains without Sandis Ozolinsh (holdout), Adam Foote (elbow), Eric Messier (broken elbow), Sylvain Lefebvre (eye, day to day), Alexei Gusarov (broken finger), Jon Klemm (knee) and Wade Belak (groin).
But it's not that easy, warns Green.
"You just can't key on their weakness. You have to think of their strengths. You can't allow Forsberg or Sakic to play their game and they have against us."
BO-BO AND BOB: Both goaltender Bob Essensa and defenceman Boris Mironov appear ready to go tonight against the Avs.
Neither took part in yesterday's workout, but Essensa gave the media the thumbs-up sign.
"Structurally, it looks fine," he said of Monday's MRI on his left knee. He added he expected to fill in as a backup to Mikhail Shtalenkov.
Mironov's foot also looked much improved with the swelling way down. "We'll see in the morning," he said of today's skate.
THEY SAID IT: "The one great thing is that the guys all really want to play. That's a constant." - Defenceman Marty McSorley, working back from a shoulder injury.
"We've got a long way to go to be crying the blues like Colorado. They've been devastated by injuries." - Kevin Lowe on the state of injured Oilers.
"We haven't played our best games against them yet. We have to stick to our game plan rather than try to play theirs. They have too much talent for us to try and play their game." - Bill Guerin on facing the Avs.
"Like everything it has its up and downs and we just have to get working again." - Guerin on the slumping Edmonton power play.
