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Blue Jackets look to avoid letdown against Oilers

Nov 26, 2007 - 3:06 PM Columbus (11-8-4) at Edmonton (9-13-1) 9:00 pm EST

EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) - The Columbus Blue Jackets begin a three-game road trip on Monday against the Edmonton Oilers, hoping to build upon its recent success.

Columbus has defeated Detroit and Minnesota, a pair of division leaders, but doesn't want to slip up against the last-place team in the Northwest Division. The Blue Jackets went 1-3 against Edmonton last season and is 3-8 with one tie all-time here.

Columbus defeated Central Division-leading Detroit, 3-2, in a shootout on Saturday to move to within six points of the Red Wings. The win came a day after the Blue Jackets beat Northwest leader Minnesota, 4-0.

Nikolai Zherdev and Rick Nash will each try to extend season-high point streaks for Columbus. Zherdev has two goals and five assists in five games and Nash has had five goals and five assists in his last six games.

Nash leads the Blue Jackets in scoring with 16 goals and 27 points, but is scoreless in his last five games at Edmonton.

The Oilers, wrapping up a season-high six-game homestand, are coming off a 3-2 shootout win over Chicago on Saturday. Rookie Sam Gagner scored the winning goal for Edmonton, which has won both of its games on the homestand in shootouts.

The Oilers continue to struggle offensively, averaging 2.3 goals per game. Edmonton also is last in the league on the power play, converting on only 11.2 percent of its chances.