Oilers track hounds at Rexall

Phoenix Coyotes vs Edmonton Oilers 1-2 SO (1-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1SO)

The visiting Coyotes held a 23-21-4 record at 9th place in the Western Conference before this game, which was the first return of former Oiler Matt Lashoff to Rexall since being traded for Anton Krysanov earlier in the season. Since that trade, Lashoff had put up a strong 5g 5a for 10pts in just 17 games for Phoenix.
Edmonton iced the same lineup that lost against Minnesota, including starting Nik Khabibulin in net.

A sluggish start mainly revolving around neutral zone battling saw no goaltender have to strain themselves during the first fifteen minutes of the game. The Oilers finally produced a scoring chance from a glaring error by Kurt Sauer and Penner was able to finish off the play for a 1-0 lead. There was no breakthrough in the front, however, and Phoenix managed to stave off the Oilers forwards after the goal. Matt Lombardi was able to level the scores too, with a fine individual effort just before the intermission.

The game opened up more in the second, shots flourished and the netminders had their work cut out for them due to the increasing absence of defensive control by either team. Though usually playing a more composed style, Edmonton seemed to enjoy the odd man rushes and created several good chances, all of which were turned away by a brilliant Bryzgalov.

As fast as the skies had opened in the second, they were once again closed in the third. The shape-shifting must have confused the fans as both teams inexplicably reverted to a safe brand of hockey. Edmonton's attempts to drive inside were effectively stopped as the home team's smaller forwards were unable to get by the bruising blueliners of Phoenix. The game went to overtime, and overtime went to shootout as a result of this defensive stalemate.

The shootout saw the team's match each other after 3 rounds, with Jovanovski and Cogliano netting for their respective teams. Then Khabibulin and Bryzgalov rejected 4 straight shooters, but the deadlock was broken in the 6th round as former Coyote Anton Krysanov managed to slice the puck past Bryzgalov short side!

Post game: There was little between two teams that seemed to focus largely on keeping their defensive composure - apart from allowing a wild second period that, strangely, led to no goals. Less suprisingly, netminders Khabibulin and Bryzgalov earned first and second stars of the game, saving 33 shots each.


Scoreboard
1st Period:
EDM - Penner (Hemsky, Smid)
PHX - Lombardi (Doan, Turris)

2nd Period:
-
3rd Period:
-


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

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

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman

Khabibulin
(Hiller)