One ugly loss!

This photo pretty much sums up the night for the Oilers - goalie Dwayne Roloson had to weather an ice and rubber storm all night.

Wow - that was an unwatchable disaster. The worst post-season effort I've seen by the Oilers in a long, long time. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I saw an Oiler playoff loss that ugly. They allowed 25 shots in the first period alone. 25! A franchise record. Some good defensive teams don't allow 25 in a whole game. If it weren't for Roloson, they would have been down 5- or 6-0 at the end of the first period.

They allowed the Ducks to have a 5-on-3 powerplay on three different ocassions. I could rattle off the horrific stats all morning, but I'm too depressed to keep going.

Bottom line - the Oilers must play their best game of the playoffs this Saturday night to end this series and get some rest for the Finals. I'm not panicked, but certainly concerned. The onslaught began during the third period of game 3 and continued last night. Heck, I just want to see a good first period on Saturday night.

It's time to tighten up and end this series. The last thing the Oilers want to do is give the Ducks even more momentum by handing them another victory on Saturday night. Shift this series back to Edmonton on Monday night, and the Ducks will start believing they have a chance to be only the third team in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Now is when Head Coach Craig MacTavish will earn his pay. (Actually, he already has - see the Detroit series.) But, he will distinguish himself if he makes all of the right adjustments in this series, thrusting himself into the upper echelon of NHL coaches. He's already on his way, but this series could really mark new territory for MacT.

I'm worried, but I still believe.