Oilers battle Canucks in GM Place

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

Edmonton sent down Finnish prospect Teemu Hartikainen before this game, as Brooks Laich returned to the lineup. Veteran netminder Nikolai Khabibulin got the start. Vancouver held the Conference and hence the Northwestern lead, having put up a quality 19-8-0 record in 27 games.

The words of Louis Pasteur echoed in the performance of both teams in the first period: "Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity". It was a close, gritty game throughout the first 20, though only the Canucks managed to put a puck in the net, though it arrived late in the form of a Sami Salo slapshot from the bluline.

Vancouver did an admirable job in keeping shots away from Luongo during the second, blocking a full 12 shots, while a meagre 7 went through, and all were saved by Lou. The Oilers, on the other hand, played a similarly compact and positionally sound defensive game, denying the home team any big chances.

A quite strategic game in which all the pawns, rooks and bishops had been carefully positioned looked to expire as nothing but a paradoxial stalemate win for Vancouver, though Brooks Laich had other plans on his return. In a brilliant move he combined with Cogliano on the rush to get by Salo and Edler and beat Luongo short side with a nice wrist shot. That set the Oilers up for overtime, as it was no more than a minute from full time, but there was more in the basket of surprises. Drawn from it was a dejá vú of sorts, with Sedin and Sedin drawing upon their telepathy to score a late winner to please home fans.

Post game: Few players were sub par as such, but no one stepped up to break Luongo's solid record either. Smid, Penner, Cogliano, Hemsky and Laich were among the better players, though there is no room for individuals in a loss, is there?


Scoreboard
1st Period:
VAN - Salo (Wellwood)

2nd Period:
-

3rd Period:
EDM - Laich (Cogliano, Smid)
VAN - D. Sedin (H. Sedin)


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

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

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman


Khabibulin
(Hiller)