Edmonton Oilers get hammered in brawl-filled affair against the New York Rangers
Things appear to be going from bad to worse for the Edmonton Oilers as they suffered another lopsided defeat, this time at the hands of the New York Rangers who scored eight goals en route to an 8-2 victory
on Sunday 14 November.
How it happened
After conceding seven goals to the Hurricanes, and six goals to the Detroit Red Wings, in the past week, the Oilers were victimized for eight more and have now let in 25 goals in their last four games.
In only his second game back after returning from a shoulder injury, Marian Gaborik led the way for the Rangers scoring a hat trick.
The game was still close after the first period as Gaborik had scored the only goal of the first with his first of the season. In fact, Edmonton even took the lead in the second period after Shawn Horcoff
shot them into the lead less than 30 seconds after Ryan Jones had tied it up.
Gaborik tied the game at 2-2 with his second of the game and from there it was all downhill for the Oilers as the Rangers scored three more before the period was out to lead 5-2.
In a penalty filled third period which saw 10 fighting majors, and nine misconduct penalties, handed out (most being handed out during a particularly violent brawl at 11:18 of the third period), the Rangers
scored three in a 2:08 span midway through the period to complete the rout.
What they're saying
Despite the impressive performance of the Rangers' offence, it was a particular incident in the third period that sparked a brawl which was one of the major talking points after the game. The incident
in question occurred after a fight between Rangers forward Sean Avery and Oilers defenceman Ladislav Smid. Smid had come to the aid of team-mate Colin Fraser who had been hit cleanly by Avery, but Smid was then pounded by Avery in the ensuing melee. While
being escorted to the locker room Avery was then chased down by Fraser and Theo Peckham which got the brawl really going. Both Fraser and Peckham claim that Avery's punch to the face of Smid was a sucker punch.
"I just watched my teammate ask a guy to fight," Peckham told reporters after the game. "Avery said 'No, no next shift.' And as soon as Smider turned around, he sucker punched him. He skated by our bench
laughing. I definitely made a mistake and went a little wonky, but we're family and sometimes you have to make a stand for yourself."
The Oilers have now lost six of their last seven games and are once again alone at the bottom of the Western Conference. Their last win came against the Chicago Blackhawks whom they now get set to face
again on Wednesday 17 November.
The Rangers play on back-to-back nights as they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins on Monday night.
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