Oilers head to Vancouver to play Canucks

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

Edmonton made a change in net coming into this second game of a back-to-back, starting Jonas Hiller. Struggling to score, the Oilers had scored just 1 goal in each of the last three games. A team that had not dried up offensively, the Canucks were still the Conference leaders, and among the leaders in scored goals too, with 139 in 41 games. The struggling Oilers had seen their top 5 point scorers this season collect less than 5 points between them during the last 5 games, accounting for much of their struggles.

Edmonton was restricted to fighting a defensive battle for most of the first period in this one too. Vancouver played much like they had all season, with swift offensive movement and a physically punishing defense. Neither team managed to open the score during the opening frame, though.

Vancouver did finally solve Hiller, as they scored on the power play with Krysanov serving two for hooking. One that was trying his hardest, continually driving to the net and seeking to receive the puck in scoring situations was Brooks Laich, but he could not score on three big chances following the opening goal. Instead, the Canucks tipped home a second marker, this time Samuelsson deflected home a point shot.

After a long period of no action, Ales Hemsky put Edmonton on the board with a power play marker, which was quickly added to by another blast on the man advantage - courtesy of Greg Moore. The Oilers had drawn back into the game in less than three minutes. As if that was not enough, Ryan O'Marra added a third Oilers goal with ten minutes to play, giving Edmonton the lead! The home fans were screaming bloody murder at this point, unable to comprehend the Canucks' meltdown. Just as Vancouver were assembling their forces to re-gain level ground, Bieksa took a charging penalty with a mere two minutes to go, crippling their chances of an equaliser. Edmonton took their first win since the last time they came back from being two down against Vancouver...

Post game: "Well, we were given the opportunity to get back and we took it. Safe to say, I am pleased with our opportunistic conduct" praised head coach Constantine after the win. The Oilers power play finally gave them an edge again, netting twice in the third, allowing the comeback.


Scoreboard
1st Period:
-

2nd Period:
VAN - Erhoff (-) PP
VAN - Samuelsson (Edler, Pettinger)

3rd Period:
EDM - Hemsky (Cogliano, Gagner) PP
EDM - Moore (Laich, Smid) PP
EDM - O'Marra (Visnovsky, Falardeau)


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

Lines:
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Cogliano - Laich - O'Sullivan
Moore - Krysanov - Brule
Moreau - Falardeau - O'Marra

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman

Hiller
(Khabibulin)