Edmonton Oilers Continue Freefall, Lose to Detroit Red Wings

The broken record that is the Edmonton Oilers‘ season has now been smashed into itty bitty pieces.

There are only so many different times and so many different ways you can say that they lost to a team. Last night it was to the Detroit Red Wings on the road as they dropped to 1-3-2 on their nine-game road trip, and at this point you have to wonder if they will be able to win another game before this trip is through.

Jimmy Howard looked brilliant in net against the anemic Oilers offense, while Devan Dubnyk had another up-and-down night. Dubnyk stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced, but the first one was the latest soft goal he should have been able to stop, and the Red Wings put two or three more off the post or crossbar, so Dubnyk definitely did not bring his “A” game.

The Oilers didn’t get a chance to do anything on special teams because there was only one penalty called and it was on Taylor Hall in the first minute of the game. Apart from a slugging match between Jordin Tootoo and newly-acquired Mike Brown, the rest of the game was clean, so the Oilers couldn’t use their vaunted power play units to try to get themselves back into this contest.

Adding to the bad news of losing for the 11th straight time to the Red Wings is the fact that Ales Hemsky suffered a foot injury in the second period. X-rays appear to indicate the foot isn’t broken, but he will still miss some time as he heals. If Edmonton is smart they will shut him down for the rest of the road trip so he isn’t put in harm’s way any sooner than he has to be. Hemsky is the team’s best trade chip, so they need for him to be healthy and producing at the trade deadline so they can get maximum value for him when they try to unload him.

Things are going from bad to worse to “Are you kidding me, how is this even possible?” in Edmonton. They are now only one point out of last in the Western Conference and two points away from being tied with the Florida Panthers for the lowest point total in the NHL. A lottery pick is clearly in their future and with any “luck” they may just become the first team in NHL history to have the first overall draft pick four years in a row.

What else can you say at this point?