The Oilers 50/50 Charity came in clutch Monday night to help the down-on-their-luck Blues, which were on a seven game losing streak, win their first hockey game in two weeks.

The game started out well enough. Edmonton went to the powerplay late in the first period and won the offensive faceoff. Bouchard and Nugent-Hopkins worked the puck down towards McDavid who centered the play to Roslovic for a quick tap in goal. Not long after Mangiapane scored a wrist shot off the rush assisted by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid.

Unfortunately, the good night ended there. Like so many other games this season the Oilers fell asleep behind the wheel after gaining a lead.

McDavid took a tripping penalty late in the second which gave the Blues an opportunity to get on the scoreboard. St Louis won the draw, Robert Thomas waited a couple seconds, and then sent the puck to Justin Faulk. Faulk opted to pass to Dalibor Dvorsky, and Dvorsky beat Calvin Pickard clean with a one-timer. The power play lasted twelve seconds.

Only a couple minutes later – and with 90 seconds left to play – Edmonton found themselves deep in their own end. The Blues gained possesion along the boards and both teams skated to formation, but McDavid flew behind Ty Emberson and tripped him from behind after catching the back of his skate. The Blues sent a shot on net, which was deflected, but the scrambling Emberson left a massive hole for Robert Thomas to score and tie the game heading into the third period.

The Blues’ game winning goal came 18 minutes into the third period. After gaining possession, St Louis cycled the puck back to the blue line and fired a slapshot towards Pickard. Pickard made the save, but Bouchard was completely absent with his net front presence. Pius Suter was left all alone with the rebound, and he made sure to bury it. The lack of compete from a defenseman that has just been given a $10.5M contract is concerning to say the least.

As of late, being up two goals doesn’t mean a thing for this Oilers team – unless there’s only a couple seconds left on the clock. Edmonton was a minute away from going to overtime and securing a point. They were also a couple minutes away from being up 2-0 going into the third. Instead they entered the third period with a 2-2 tie, and left the game with their tail between their legs.

Maybe Edmonton just felt bad for the Blues, after all, they were on a losing streak. Hopefully the Oilers don’t feel so gracious when they face the Dallas Stars tomorrow.