Denis Grebeshkov is out. From a report we heard, he injured his knee in the final minute of the Buffalo game and won't be with the Oilers for the final two games of this five game road trip.

When this season started, would you have ever guessed that the Oilers of all things, would be running out of viable defensemen?

It wasn't some 19 games ago that fans and media types were mocking up trades all over the place suggesting that with the Oilers so deep on NHL quality defensemen, that it only made sense to move one. Now, less than a quarter of the way through the season, Edmonton can barely find enough defensemen to play a full game.

It's been a bad season in general for the Oilers in terms of injury and illness, but c'mon, this is getting silly. Of the probably nine viable options of defense, six Edmonton Oiler blueliners have now been out of action due to injury. Of those six, Sheldon Souray, Steve Staios, Lubomir Visnovsky, and Ladislav Smid have been impact players at times for the Oil and were greatly missed.

With Grebeshkov now gone for an undisclosed amount of time, the Oilers will be thankful to hear that Sheldon Souray, who was scheduled as unlikely until late November, might play Sunday against Atlanta.

A likely return from Shawn Horcoff is also on the horizon and could happen against the Thrashers, which would put the Oilers in a position to limit any excuses. The lines might look like the following for Sundays game if all possible returns actually happen:

Horcs/Hemmer/Penner
O'Sullivan/Gagner/Comrie
Potulny/Brule/Pisani
Stortini/Cogs/Moreau

Souray/Staios
Visnovsky/Smid
Gilbert/Strudwick

This tells us that should the Oilers not be ready to earn back some of the points they lost with a lousy record over the last 9-10 games, they'll be plum out of reasons to feel good about this team and it's ability to be a playoff contender.

This is Steve Staios. For a while he played right wing with the Atlanta Thrashers. In Edmonton, he's known as a stay-at-home defenseman. Pretty soon, he might be known as a goalie.

Should the injury situation in Edmonton get so bad, that the Oilers find a few man games go missing between their goalies, suit Staios up, he's definitely ready.

In a heartbreaking loss to the Ottawa Senators, Staios was amazing. Outside of the fact he was an amazing plus/minus -+3 in a 3 goals for effort, he had two assists and blocked an amazing 5 shots (have I said he was amazing enough yet?).

In the second period, Oilers goalie Jeff Deslaurier made 5 saves. I can't recall the last time a player had as many or more saves in one stretch than his goalie did.

The crazy part is, Staios wasn't alone in the "I can't believe they were so good" category.

Simply put, Dustin Penner dominated. Astonishingly, he didn't have more to show for it than one goal. Remember, how it wasn't that long ago, Oilers fans were ready to send Penner packing because he could never seem to score that "one goal"?

In all of last season Penner had 17 goals. This year, in 18 games, he has 11. That's on pace for a 50 goal season and only 6 goals shy of last year. It would be unreal to think he won't hit that mark, even if he slows to a snails pace.

To Penner's credit, there seem to be no signs of slowing. When Penner had the puck last night, and often even when he didn't, he was making things happen. He's been the one shining light in the Oilers many shut-out losses and he just seems to be getting better and sees this as his time to be a great hockey player.

If the Oilers can get two more seasons out of him similar to what this season is shaping up to be, we'll all owe Kevin Lowe a big glass of "what were we smokin' to have doubted you" juice. It's still early, but a huge base of fans have never been more happy to be wrong.

Even more, considering the Oilers had a crop of AHL'ers in Oiler uniforms last night, they did what a good road team needed to do to get the win. Despite the fact that Edmonton lost, it's about the most positive type of loss a team can have, kicking off this five game road trip with 3 out of a possible 4 points.

If the Oilers missing players start popping back into place, tough decisions might be coming. Furthermore, if the Oilers are lucky, Edmonton will have earned enough points to have kept themselves in contention. Great news for a team just itching to actually play the roster it had planned to ice from the start of the year.

Of course if the latest play of Liam Reddox, Ryan Potulny and Taylor Chorney have anything to say about it, that opening roster might be a tad different than what was expected.

In what is likely an non-surprising twist to the MacIntyre saga, the Florida Panthers have claimed Steve MacIntyre off of waivers.

The Panthers never really wanted to lose MacIntyre when he was placed on waivers by them a couple seasons back, hoping he'd clear for re-assignment. The Oilers in need of a tough guy at that time picked him up.

The Panther's wasted no time in returning the favor. The only difference being that the Oilers, as much as they liked the character MacIntyre brought to the team, were prepared to lose him and shed another contract.

Quinn wasn't going to play MacIntyre for more than a couple minutes a game. He only did so thanks to injury. It became quickly clear to management, that if the Oilers couldn't use him, they might as well move him.

I'm sure the Oilers wish him the best, and bet Florida will think twice about waiving him again.

Over the past couple of weeks, there has been an increase in the amount of typical rumor mill garbage that has surfaced about the Oilers. I say garbage, because 99% of what's out there isn't usually very accurate. With that said, let's take a run down at some of the latest "buzz" and weigh in on what might be true and should stay a rumor.

Michael Nylander will be picked up by Edmonton before he gets the chance to go to Europe or the KHL

This one is a real stretch and is almost 100% untrue for a couple of reasons. While the Oilers are low in offensive depth thanks to some key injuries and illness, they aren't that low. If they have had any interest at all, it wasn't evident as Nylander cleared waivers thanks to his rediculous salary that the Oilers barely escaped the first time around. Edmonton isn't looking to make that mistake again.

Should Nylander pop up on re-entry waivers, the Oilers management may ask the question knowing his $4.8 million cap hit over the next two years is reduced, but it will a question quickly squashed. Nylander isn't likely to play anywhere in the NHL this year unless Washington is so up a creek with injuries they have no other option.

Nathan Horton could be traded and the Oilers want in.

If Nathan Horton is actually on the block in Florida, I'm sure the Oilers do want in. But, that's a big if. Rumors surrounding Horton are not new, despite the fact that Florida's GM Randy Sexton has denied Horton's exit at every turn. Many still suggest Horton's time in Florida is limited.

Those suggesting a player like Gilbert would get it done are wrong. Gilbert has little trade value with his slow start and his $4 million cap hit for Horton's $4 million cap hit is slightly uneven. If the Oilers could get it done, expect someone like Cogliano and Grebeskov or Gilbert to be a starting point. That might not even do it.

Oilers Eyeing Someone from Tampa?

While there might be some truth to the Oilers having a peak at some of the Tampa roster, it's just as likely the amount of time Kevin Lowe has been seen at Tampa games could have more to do with Stamkos and his Olympic potential than anything else.

Vincent Lecavalier is off to a slow start, thus rumors swirl that he's once again trade bait. Don't believe it. Even for the Oilers who would love to have a player like Lecavalier in their lineup, Vinnie has an 11yr contract with a cap hit of $7.7 million. A trade like that is almost impossible for Edmonton to complete even if it were an option -- which it isn't.

Jeff Halpern's name has been thrown in there, but he's a potential Selke trophy winner the way he's been playing. Tampa would have to think long and hard about moving him.

Steve MacIntyre was Waived to Make Room For Another Contract

This one is true, but not the way you might expect. MacIntyre's writing was on the wall. He'd been the subject of a number of talks regarding clearing his contract, but injuries played a part in delaying that decision. Only recently when Quinn still refused to use him, while the Oilers were at their weakest, did Edmonton management cut the cord.

The Oilers will look to replace MacIntyre with another able body. Brad Mair from Buffalo? Doubtful, but possible. More than likely, that spot will go to a Springfield player. Reddox and Potulny both made strong cases for themselves.

Nilsson's Days in Edmonton are Numbered

True, and getting more accurate with every player that makes their way back to the Oilers after injuries have healed. Nilsson has had chances to prove he's not worth getting rid of, but he hasn't done it.

The Oilers will look to shed his salary in some fashion when that choice hits them. Right now, Edmonton is far too banged up, but that won't last forever. Nilsson has about two weeks at best to turn it around for himself or he's likely the first to go.

Oilers Looking to Make an Offer to UFA Satan?

This one is interesting only because we have no confirmation other than Satan has received offers from a few NHL teams, mostly injury depleted. The Oilers would fit into that description and could use some scoring help, which is what Satan would bring.

For the Oilers it likely would be a cost effective, short term solution. It worked with Comrie better than expected, so the Oilers might be more apt to give it a shot than they would have previously.

Got anything to add that we haven't heard about? We're all ears.

The Oilers had lost six of seven coming in to Sundays game versus Colorado. If anyone did, very few people expected the Oilers to pull out a victory over the hottest team in the NHL -- one which was going for a franchise record consecutive wins at home. The Oilers missing Ales Hemsky, Sheldon Souray, Shawn Horcoff, JF Jacques, Ladislav Smid and others only added to the evidence that this game should have been a blowout for the Avs.

So the Oilers, who likely had little other choice, came into Denver and played simple effective hockey. They shot the puck, picked up garbage goals, limited the turnovers and wound up winning 5-3 over Colorado, surprising almost everyone.

Their power play was good, their penalty kill was excellent and they're teamwork even better. They didn't necessarily have the skill to play it any other way.

Liam Reddox and Ryan Potulny got the call up in the absence of key players and both, especially Potulny, made a case as a permanent fixture when a number of those missing players return.

Sure, it's only one game, but this isn't new for Potulny who's had this kind of effect in short term stints with the Oilers before. With 3 points in 8 games last season, Potulny contributed with literally no ice time or gravy powerplay time under MacTavish, despite his strengths as a hockey player. It's likely, that while Potulny is with the Oilers this time around, he'll be given a bit more offensive responsibility in areas to which he excels.

Reddox was effective defensively and contributed a gritty or "crusty" spark if you will; that the Oilers had been missing. It was evident in the Oilers style of play.

Keeping it simple and putting pucks on net, helped the Oilers get an early lead. With two of their three goals coming in a somewhat "ugly" fashion, it was those garbage style points that put the Oilers past a team that likely should have beaten them; especially if the Oilers had continued the style of play fans were accustomed to over the last seven contests.

Perhaps for Edmonton, this victory is more than a lucky win. Perhaps its a lesson that goals come in all shapes and forms, but that the only way to score them is to get them on net. For two periods they did that. In the second they didn't, and the game change was evident.

I'm sure Edmonton doesn't want a repeat performance of the 2nd period against the Avs or a reminder of how bad they were in the games leading up to Colorado. Keep it simple, put pucks on net and play with a bit of vigour, and those reminders might be few and far between.

One of two things has happened here in Edmonton. Either the Oilers have continued to rack up miles with the flu bug or coaching and management have said enough is enough when it comes to allowing opponents to dictate play night in and night out.

On Saturday, and likely just in time to make the trip to Colorado for Sunday's game against the Avalanche, the Oilers have recalled forwards Ryan Potulny and Liam Reddox from Springfield of the American Hockey League.

Potulny has seven points (3G, 4A) in 13 games and Reddox, has three points in 12 games this year with the Falcons. Not exactly stellar numbers that would warrant a return to the NHL for any reason other than desperation.

In Thursday's game against the Rangers, the Oilers penalty kill was horrid. With Shawn Horcoff out of the lineup, the Rangers were able to dictate the pace, set-up and frequently score on the man advantage. Reddox should help in that area.

The Oilers also down players like JF Jacques and Ryan Stone, will hope that bringing in fresh bodies like Potulny and Reddox will spark a bit of enthusiasm and "crust" into another wise disinterested looking team. Both Potulny and Reddox have been known to go into the tougher areas and battle. They'll do so now, especially to stay in the NHL.

Should Pat Quinn see what he needs from either, the chances of either player staying put are better now than they might be all season. So too, if the Oilers are lucky, the same type of response from the rest of the team that occurred when Stone and Jacques were placed on the lines will repeat itself.

You don't see it very often, especially in a game where clearly there were missed calls that could have given Edmonton an opportunity on the man advantage, but it happened. In Monday's game vs NYI, the Oilers didn't see one second of powerplay time.

The funny thing is, it wouldn't have mattered.

The Oilers, outside of Ales Hemsky, were just not good enough. Any resemblence of a forecheck and this team crumbles like crackers in soup.

I'd love to say more, but what can you say?

Let's just hope they figure a way past it, before other teams keep realizing the slightest pressure on the puck should earn them two points against a struggling Oiler team.

Shawn Horcoff is questionable for tonights game. While Lubomir Visnovsky and Mike Comrie seem ready to return, Horcoff is the latest victim of the flu and did not skate with the Oilers during practice on Sunday in Long Island.

It's no secret that Shawn Horcoff has gotten off to a slow start. He's had one offensive outbreak in a 6-5 win over Detroit scoring three points as part of a ten point first line effort along side Hemsky and Penner. But, outside of that flurry, Horcoff has two points in twelve games.

Fans get quick to jump on Horcoff thanks to his high price tag and otherwise slower start. As they do, they still often can't deny the variables he brings with him. Variables, that have made him a valueable part of every game whether he scores or not. Therefore, should Horcoff not be in the lineup on Monday, the Oilers have problems and questions that require answers.

Faceoffs are not a friend of the Oilers. While some of the players have shown slight improvements, overall Edmonton has issues winning draws. This is a problem not new to the team.

In total, Horcoff has taken 299 draws in this early 2009/2010 season, second best in the NHL to only Sidney Crosby. Horcoff's closest faceoff taking teammate Sam Gagner, has taken 128. That's a big difference.

Without Horcoff, the Oilers have only Dustin Penner, Mike Comrie and Gilbert Brule at over 50%. Comrie might not even play and Penner isn't a centre, having taken only 31 draws this season.

Needless to say, what Pat Quinn decides to do should Horcoff not be available should be interesting. It's likely that the Hemsky, Penner and Gagner line will be reunited, hoping Sam Gagner has the type of game where he wins more draws than he loses.

The second line (should Comrie play), might see him at center with O'Sullivan and Jacques. Of those three, only Comrie has the ability to win a draw, but his attendance is still in question. Even if he does play, how effective will he be knowing his lack of strength is a factor thanks to his flu recovery?

The third line puts Brule with Nilsson and Pisani and the fourth with Moreau, Stortini and Cogliano.

Of course all this could change after Monday morning's skate, where the Oilers will see who's healthy and who isn't.

In no uncertain terms, the Oilers better hope Horcoff is healthy. Edmonton's struggled mightily to keep the puck out of their own zone. When they do, it often comes after Horcoff wins a key draw in the defensive zone. Without Horcoff around to do so, the Oilers could be up a creek without a paddle.