Oilers down, but not out in final series

EDMONTON – This is becoming a sad story. This city and nation so covet the Stanley Cup. And yet, unless there’s a dramatic turn in tonight’s Game 3, they may not come anywhere near it.

Down 0-2 and minus their starting goaltender, the Oilers have no time to savor their first Finals home game since 1990.

Canada’s chances of ending its 13-year Cup drought also look grim. Edmonton did come back from 0-2 in this spring’s second round, but that was against a content Sharks squad. This is Carolina, which has potted 10 goals in the Finals.

Craig MacTavish likened the powerful Hurricanes on Friday to carbon monoxide. “You don’t really sense it,” the Edmonton coach said, “but they’re lethal.”

The Devils learned that the hard way. This series actually is going just like their second-round encounter with Carolina, just in reverse: The Oilers got humbled in Game 2, 5-0, after getting heartbroken, 5-4, in Game 1. Carolina has dominated ever since spotting Edmonton a 3-0 lead in the opener, eventually winning that game against backup goaltender Ty Conklin with 32 seconds left.

The difference between the Jersey series and this one is at least the Devils had Martin Brodeur to turn to. The Oilers lost Dwayne Roloson, their starting goaltender, to a knee injury in Game 1.

Although Roloson is believed to be done for the series, MacTavish didn’t totally rule out the possibility of a return.

“I guess there’s always a chance,” he said, before adding that Roloson’s injury is much more forbidding for a goaltender than a skater, because of the constant bending required.