The Edmonton Oilers had to anticipate a difficult journey for the rest of the season after captain Ryan Smyth was dealt at the trade deadline.

But they couldn't have expected things to be this bad.

St. Louis Blues' Radek Dvorak, right, and Christian Backman, centre, celebrate Jeff Woywitka's goal against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
(John Ulan/Canadian Press)

The Oilers remain winless in the post-Smyth era after losing 3-2 in overtime to the St. Louis Blues at Rexall Place on Saturday.

"We didn't play well," Edmonton head coach Craig MacTavish said. "I was more forgiving of our effort the other night [a 2-1 loss to Minnesota on Thursday] than tonight.

"It was pretty shoddy at times. Dwayne Roloson played great in net and gave us the opportunity to win. But outside of that we didn't play very well."

Eric Brewer scored the decisive goal, Radek Dvorak chipped in two assists and goaltender Curtis Sanford made 22 saves for the Blues, who have taken four of the last five matchups against Edmonton, including two of three meetings so far in 2006-07.

Kyle Brodziak and Shawn Horcoff each had a goal, and Dwayne Roloson made 37 saves in a losing effort for Edmonton, which dropped the second game of a six-game homestand and its fifth straight game at home.

The loss drops the Oilers' record at Rexall Place to 18-16-3 this NHL season.

Since trading Smyth, the team's leading scorer and morale leader, on Feb. 27, the Oilers have gone 0-9 and have lost 10 straight games overall, the team's worst slide since a nine-game skid from March 23 to April 9, 1995.

Edmonton is also coming precariously close to tying its franchise record for consecutive defeats of 11, set from Oct. 16 to Nov. 7, 1993.

"It has not been an easy time by any stretch of the imagination," said MacTavish. "I don't think any team could overcome the amount of injuries that we have had.

"When you have 11 guys out of your lineup, what are you supposed to do? I've been reasonably satisfied with the way we've played positionally. I haven't been unhappy. So I'm not even close to slitting my throat."

The Blues, entering the game as losers of three straight and five of six overall, managed to snap out of their own rut with the win. St. Louis finished its three-game road trip against Northwest division teams with a record of 1-1-1.

Blues have strong start

St. Louis carried the play early in Saturday's first period and managed to strike first on the power play.

Petr Cajanek fired the puck past Roloson for his 13th goal of the season to give St. Louis an early 1-0 lead.

But just 40 seconds later, Brodziak picked up a loose puck in front of the Blues' net and slipped it five-hole past Sanford to tie the game.

St. Louis took the lead at 13:00 of the second period. Jeff Woywitka took a cross-ice feed from Dvorak in the Edmonton zone and chipped the puck past Roloson for the first goal of his NHL career.

In the third period, after Dvorak took a penalty for interference, Horcoff, returning to to the lineup after missing one game with the flu, scored his 16th goal this season. The forward slammed home a rebound with Sanford out of position to tie the game at 2-2.

In overtime, Brewer provided the heroics for St. Louis. The defenceman pinched in deep in the Oilers' zone, skated out from the corner, and backhanded the puck between Roloson's legs for his fifth goal this season.

With files from the Canadian Press