(My Sportsbook) - The Edmonton Oilers jumped out to a two-goal lead on Sunday versus the Atlanta Thrashers and it looked as if they were about to get their first win in six games as they led by two with less than six minutes to play.

However, as has been the case lately with Edmonton, the bottom fell out and the Thrashers rallied for a 3-3 tie.

"It was like everybody came to the building waiting for something bad to happen," said coach Craig MacTavish. "We imploded the last 10 minutes of the hockey game."

Eric Brewer had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who are a miserable 1-5-1-2 in their last nine. Mike Comrie and Steve Staios also scored for Edmonton.

"We're digging our way out. We're doing a lot of good things," said Staios. "We're in a situation now where we need points. We're starting to play better, good enough to win games. We're going the right direction here. I'm positive of that, but we're definitely disappointed we didn't get two points tonight."

Fighting for their playoff lives, the Oilers, with 67 points, currently occupy the eighth-spot in the Western Conference playoff race, just six points ahead of the equally struggling Chicago Blackhawks. Luckily for Edmonton the Hawks have just three wins in their last 17 games (3-12-2).

Leading by two on Sunday, Atlanta's Dany Heatley took a shot from the top of the left circle that Tommy Salo stopped. The rebound, however, came to Yannick Tremblay at the right side of the net and he scored his sixth goal of the season to pull the Thrashers within a goal, 3-2, at 14:32 of the third period.

Heatley had the puck along the left wing boards in the Edmonton zone and moved into the circle looking for a shot, instead, Heatley fed a pass to Dan Snyder, who was moving toward the net from the right circle. Snyder beat Salo with a low shot to even the score with 2:55 to play in the third.

"We were in pretty good shape," said MacTavish. "Then the momentum changed in a hurry in the third after a couple of power plays and everybody was waiting for something bad to happen."

WHAT'S NEXT

Things don't get any easier for the Oilers, who kick off a three-game road trip in Colorado on Tuesday. They will also visit St. Louis and Columbus on the trek.