Edmonton face off against Vancouver

Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers 2-3 (2-0, 0-2, 0-1)

Edmonton's form of late had been mildly erratic, flowing in no particular direction. Vancouver, on the other hand, was firmly in command of the Western Conference wtih 55 points over 38 games.

The first period must have induced a collective feeling of dejá vú among the home fans, for the way in which it unravelled it was a re-run of the Ducks game, although the away uniforms were different. Edmonton seemed unprepared for an aggressive Canucks team, who played quick transitional hockey, kept forechecking well and stopped the Oilers from creating much.

Something had changed when the Oilers hit the ice in the second, because a complete role reversal took place. Edmonton harried their opponents, the puck gravitated towards their sticks and shots were increasingly troubling for Luongo. Sam Gagner, who is enjoying his breakout season, took a shift on the 3rd line with great success. Moore and Axelsson forechecked well and gained possession before leaving Gagner to score. Dustin Penner added another a minute from that goal, which was his 15th of the year. As the whistle blew for the end of the second, the fans wondered what Oilers version would come out in the third, Jekyll, Hyde or a maybe a creampuff.

If it was indeed a creampuff that entered the ice in the final frame, it was a rough edged and intense one. Both teams had apparently decided to take chances, but mostly ended up in the penalty box for it. Nevertheless, much coveted Andrew Cogliano employed his afterburners and left Foote behind as he broke away to score the game winner, eight minutes before full time. The remainder of the period was spent exchanging more power plays, but Nik Khabibulin kept the Canucks out.

Post game: Character win for an increasingly enigmatic Oilers side, one which shows as much potential as it shows teething problems. Laich, Yonkman and Khabibulin had brilliant games, and might just have been the deciding factors in a tough battle.


Scoreboard
1st Period:
VAN - Kesler (Samuelsson)
VAN - Fedotenko (D. Sedin, Foote)

2nd Period:
EDM - Gagner (Axelsson, Moore)
EDM - Penner (Visnovsky, Hemsky)

3rd Period:
EDM - Cogliano (Yonkman)


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

Lines:
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Cogliano - Laich - O'Sullivan
Axelsson - Krysanov - Moore
Moreau - Falardeau - Stone

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman

Khabibulin
(Hiller)