The Oilers show little for Oilers faithful to be thankful for in an effortless 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.

Lineup
Isbister	Smyth	Dvorak	Brewer	Cross
Chimera	York	Hemsky	Smith	Staios
Moreau	Reasoner	Pisani	Bergeron	Ferguson
Torres	Horcoff	Laraque
			Salo
			Conklin
Scratched: Stoll and Semenov are healthy scratches.

Postgame

Don't go discrediting the intelligence of your Thanksgiving turkey in the oven this weekend. The Oilers proved that perhaps even a turkey could have helped their cause in a game that saw pretty much each and every Oiler gobble right through 60 minutes of this game.

In a rare NHL battle of Swedish goaltenders, Tommy Salo faced Johan Hedberg and his Canucks. Unfortunately the Oilers could only muster just 14 shots against Hedberg in his Canucks debut. Tommy Salo saw 19 shots, but unfortunately the Oilers concept of team defense went south with the pilgrims. Tommy Salo stopped at least 6 quality scoring opportunities through the game.

The Oilers saw them down in a 1-0 hole very quickly in the first period. At just 1:41, Matt Cooke got his team on the board. The key to this play was Matt Cooke hauling down Steve Staios at center ice in a play that easily could have seen Cooke sent to the penalty box for high sticking or obstruction interference.

But this happens in hockey. You can blame the refs all you want, but whining doesn't change the scoreboard. The Oilers were with their backs to the wall facing 58 more minutes of hockey to play and down a goal?

This is no excuse to mail the game in.

The Oilers would do just that as Matt Cooke would score his second goal before the 9 minute mark of the opening frame. Ed Jovanoski feathered a pass to the front of the net where Matt Cooke beat Mike York in the battle for the front of the net. Tommy Salo had little chance on either Cooke goals.

The only real chance for the Oilers came off the stick of Mike York. Mike York's shot was a beauty going over the gloveside of Johan Hedberg. Unfortunately you won't be hearing about this shot because it never was. Canucks defenseman, Bryan Allen, was tossed into the net and while the shot looked like it would be in, the net off its moorings negates any such luck.

The Oilers saw themselves down 3-0 before the end of the second period. Jiri Slegr notched a shorthanded marker for Vancouver. With the Oilers scattered up the ice in their often disorganized power play, the Canucks countered with a 3-on-1 the other way. Matt Cooke notched an assist on the play to keep him involved on the scoreboard.

Brad Isbister, who suffered 14 stitches in the last preseason game against Calgary took a boarding call in the second period against Trevor Linden. The hit was without a doubt boarding, but the scrum that insued saw Ed Jovanoski standup for the ultimate Canuck. With 14 stitches in the face, there's little wonder why Isbister just turtled on the play. End result was Ed Jovanoski getting the extra institgator penalty and tossed out of the game. Some nights a team would get worried behind the bench when they lose their top defenseman with half a game to play, but the Canucks didn't miss a beat.

The third period was far from desperate hockey the Oilers needed. Even down 3-0, the team could not find their chemistry or skating in the dressing room. There certainly better be some soul searching to do before the game in Calgary Tuesday night.

Three Stars

Matt Cooke - an unlikely hero in the game tonight with 2 goals and an assist.

Trevor Linden - the ultimate Canuck notched 2 assists.

Johan Hedberg - a shotout in his Canuck debut, what could be sweeter?

Oil Gauge

Eric Brewer played an amazing 27:34 tonight and managed to escape from this game with an even plus/minus. Steve Staios and Jason Smith both finished under 20 minutes of icetime and a -3 and -2 respectively.

OilSlicks

Steve Staios required 8 stitches under his left eye after tonight's game after a blatent high stick was missed by the referees. This leads to the question, exactly how many referees does the NHL need on the ice? 2 half-blind men aren't doing the job any better than the one half-blind man they had previous years. Perhaps the NHL could screen prospective referees for eyesight. It certainly hasn't been tried before, but it certainly could do the trick.

Next Game

The Oilers take point themselves and the Thanksgiving leftovers to Roman Turek and the Calgary Flames Tuesday night. The game starts at 8 on SportsNet-West. One can only hope this game will be pretty much opposite the lowlights of the game at GM Place.