Canucks undo Oilers again

Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers 4-3 (1-0, 3-2, 0-1)

Edmonton were forced to make a number of changes before their home debut in the series. Brooks Laich was not cleared to play after the morning practice. General manager Morgan Kowalski had anticipated the problem and Teemu Hartikainen had been called up immediately following the 1-7 loss in B.C. and was able to step in. Denis Grebeshkov had suffered a rotator cuff strain in practice since the last game and was expected to be out for at least two weeks - and his replacement was Taylor Chorney. Jeff Petry was likely the preferred candidate, but Petry had picked up an injury with Springfield and was on IR.

Edmonton stepped onto the ice with authority, but fell through the ice immediately by putting themselves on the penalty kill time and time again. By taking four almost overlapping penalties they practically shovelled momentum onto the visitors, while piling pressure upon themselves. In a brief interlude between man advantages, Steve Bernier found time to open the scoring on a breakaway. Some valiant defensive plays repulsed the Canucks' power play bids, and the first intermission must have felt divine as the Oilers were gasping for air.

The pause had no apparent effect on the initial action in the second. Vancouver finally broke through on the power play, courtesy of youngster Cody Hodgson. Edmonton's lacklustre penalty kill was rapidly disintegrating further, and the defensive zone coverage from last game had carried over into this match. Nonetheless, the home fans were, perhaps blind to the on-ice events, still cheering their team on with zeal. Unlikely enough, Taylor Chorney was the one to bring some hope to the supporters by firing a puck by Luongo from long range. His bid for resurrection was quickly stifled though, as Sedin's goal put Lazarus back in the ground. The pattern was reaffirmed when Visnovsky's power play marker was followed by an Alex Edler point bomb. Edmonton's offense could not outweigh their defensive errors.

The straw was coming under tremendous pressure, but it still held as Cogliano wrapped another finger around it in desperation - scoring his first playoff goal ever, nicely set up by Tangradi. Vancouver remained calm, however, and both Sedins had a shot in the post during the final ten minutes, without striking lucky. Their work in the offensive zone effectively kept Edmonton from working their top units though, and Luongo managed to close out another win.

Post game: "We're playing a fragile game" observed GM Kowalski, "because we leave it all in the hands of chance on the PK and take far too many penalties when knowing what type of offense the Canucks have." The Oilers were undone by a crafty offensive game by the Canucks, involving no less than 8 different point scorers. In addition, Luongo and the defensive corps of Vancouver completely denied Hemsky, Gagner and Penner chances outside of the odd power play opportunity. The result was a close game, but one Edmonton will rue because they had the chance to win and let it slip.


Scoreboard
1st Period:
VAN - Bernier (Kesler, Pettinger)

2nd Period:
VAN - Hodgson (Gratton, Fedotenko) PP
EDM - Chorney (O'Sullivan) PP
VAN - D. Sedin (Gratton, Samuelsson)
EDM - Visnovsky (Babchuk, Gagner) PP
VAN - Edler (Kesler)

3rd Period:
EDM - Cogliano (Tangradi, Gilbert)



Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

Lines:
Tangradi - Cogliano - O'Sullivan
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Axelsson - Hartikainen - Moore
Moreau - Falardeau - Brule

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Chorney - Yonkman

Khabibulin
(Hiller)