At least Nikolai Khabibulin, who has been known to hide in such situations in his career, stood there when it was over to face the music after his first night as an Edmonton Oiler.
"It doesn't feel very good right now," said the great goat of Pat Quinn's first game behind the bench in an NHL regular-season game since April of 2006.
""It feels like I lost at least a point. I can't get it back right now. I still can't believe what just happened. There is no excuse for something like that," said the Russian netminder who had a shot at recording his 300th NHL victory.
"I'm sure there were games, but I don't remember anything that bad in a last minute of a game. There's always a first time for everything."
GOALIE GIVEAWAY
It was a goalie giveaway with 49 seconds to play which made opening night at Rexall Place unforgettable.
It ended the longest home opening game unbeaten streak in the NHL. The Oilers had won their last five and were 5-0-1 in their last six.
And it spoiled a performance which should have sent Oilers fans into the night feeling a lot better about their hockey club than they did after most game games last year.
Until the $3.75 million U.S. a year 'Bulin Wall turned into some sort of $3 collapsing lawn chair in a farcical attempt to clear the puck in the last minute, it was a positive performance no matter how it turned out in overtime or the shootout.
Until it turned out that Khabibulin managed to stickhandle the puck into his own net (if it hadn't gone off the stick of David Moss in the pinball-like process) in any sport which involves a goal or a net.
The Oilers, who have a flair for ceremonies, made opening night an event with frequent fireworks outside Rexall Place as the crowd arrived and a crazy combination: pipe bands and vocalists with aerialists wearing skates and playing fiddles.
And it was an interesting introduction for Quinn as well.
His players did a lot of things he'd been asking them to do during training camp.
For openers, they were a tough team to play against. They played with a great pace. They won 55% of the faceoffs.
They outshot the Flames 8-1 out of the gate and 34-21 overall (the first shot on Khabibulin ending up in his own net).
Dustin Penner, who scored two goals in the first game last year, played hard, took the body, scored the Oilers first goal of the season and made a nifty backhand pass to Gilbert Brule for another goal to be a plus-two on the night.
Edmonton native and former villain Mike Comrie received one of the loudest ovations in player introductions, although there were a few boo birds, and opened the season with an assist.
GAGNER IN A FIGHT
Gilbert Brule, J.F. Jacques, Ryan Stone, Patrick O'Sullivan and Sam Gagner played well. Gagner got into a fight and scored the 3-3 goal to leave an impression in a game in which he received less than 10 minutes of ice time.
But all anybody is going to remember is Khabibulin handling the puck like a hand grenade and the game blowing up on the Oilers in Pat Quinn's debut.
"That's a hard way to lose a hockey game," said Quinn. "Those things happen in sports. We lost the hockey game.
"We instilled some tenaciousness. We went to the net well. We played with a physical edge. We were better in the faceoffs," said Quinn of the positives.
But what about the PK?
"We didn't do anything penalty killing," he said of giving up a pair of goals.
"The power play looked dangerous for a while there early, then not very dangerous.
"And I didn't like any of the goals which went in tonight," he said of the combination of defensive play and goaltending.
Khabibulin isn't going to enjoy watching the replay over and over and over in a Canadian city. And he isn't going to like the looks of his save percentage this morning either.
TERRY.JONES@SUNMEDIA.CA
