Edmonton Oilers vs Vancouver Canucks 2-1 (1-0, 0-0, 1-1)
The Oilers went into their first playoff game since game 7 in Raleigh in 2006 without winger Ryan O'Marra who was suffering anterior knee pain. Gilbert Brule took his place on the 4th line. The Canucks were clear favourites for the series based upon their play in the regular season and not least the Sedins, Luongo and a solid defensive corps including Tomas Kaberle, Alexander Edler and Christian Erhoff.
The two teams went at it with vigor from the start, but the Oilers were down six shots to one after ten minutes of play, despite having worked two full power plays. Vancouver payed the price of their belligerence with five blocked shots in that span, energizing both the bench and the fans. Daniel Sedin came awfully close to solving the Oilers penalty kill in the Canucks first man advantage of the game, but his shot rang off the post and out. Just when it looked as if the teams would take a goalless experience into the locker room, Edmonton's power play struck oil - as Ales Hemsky was found alone at the back door by Tangradi, and the Czech winger could score easily. Nonetheless, the Canucks had dominated the play in the first.
The second mimiced the first by its physical nature. Even though the Canucks were clearly the more aggressive team, the Oilers held their ground well and enjoyed a few power plays as a result of Vancouver's hazardous style. At the end of the period, however, it was the Oilers and Nolan Yonkman who lacked discipline. Yonkman's reaction to a roughing call earned him a ten minue misconduct. Edmonton were still holding on to their lead at the second intermission.
Evenius wrote "The crowd gives the leader new strength." When the venomous fangs of the Oil sunk into Canuck-flesh for the second time of the game - the poison delivered by Axelsson - the fans went temporarily silent, and the Vancouver leaders had to summon strength from within. Edmonton had limited the home team's shots to 19 when seven minutes remained, quite impressive considering the Canucks put up 10 shots in the first. The speed of Cogliano, Hemsky, O'Sullivan and others kept producing chances off the rush as Vancouver desperately attempted to balance the game. Bernier was finally able to spark hope with four minutes to go, and the race for an equaliser was on in full scale. Surprisingly, it was the Oilers who commanded play after the 1-2 goal, taking better control of the puck, stretching their opposition by making excellent long passes. A mere second before the whistle, Penner actually hit the post, so Edmonton was closer to increasing their lead than Vancouver were to closing it.
Post game: "I am proud of our defensive game, of Khabibulin's cool presence and most of all of our puck management when the game was on the line. There was leadership beyond the years from most of our guys out there today" remarked head coach Constantine in the post-game interview. Hockey experts were equally impressed as Constantine with the manner in which Edmonton denied Vancouver passing- and shooting lanes for the entire game. "We expect an even tougher game in two days" said captain Ethan Moreau, "they will be re-doubling their effort not to fall two games behind for sure".
Scoreboard
1st Period:
EDM - Hemsky (Tangradi, Gagner) PP
2nd Period:
-
3rd Period:
EDM - Axelsson (Cogliano, Moore)
VAN - Bernier (Zuccarello Aasen, H. Sedin)
Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
- MIS: Yonkman (EDM, 2nd period)
Lines:
Tangradi - Laich - O'Sullivan
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Axelsson - Cogliano - Moore
Moreau - Falardeau - Brule
Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman
Khabibulin
(Hiller)
April 20, 2010
Oilers edge Canucks in game 1
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