Newf
11-29-2009, 03:01 PM
VANCOUVER - At times this season, the Vancouver Canucks have had trouble scoring goals.
That wasn't the case on Saturday night.
Alex Edler and Mason Raymond each had a goal and two assists for Vancouver as the Canucks whipped the Edmonton Oilers 7-3.
Edler scored his first goal of the season -- and first in 33 games -- as the Canucks put four past Edmonton starting netminder Jeff DesLauriers on their first 11 shots. Vancouver built a 5-1 lead after the one and cruised most of the way to their fourth win in five games.
"That's the start we wanted," said Kesler, who added three assists. "We knew they were going to be a tired team from (Friday) night, having overtime and having to go to a shootout (in a loss to San Jose)."
Christian Ehrhoff, Alex Burrows, Tanner Glass, Daniel Sedin and Mikael Samuelsson also scored for the Canucks (14-11-0) before 18,818 at General Motors Place.
"Obviously, we jumped on them pretty hard in the beginning, got a lot of pucks on their net, and our power play was real good," said Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault.
"Any time you score the number of goals that we did in the first period in this league, it's a real good start."
Gilbert Brule, Colin McDonald, with his first NHL goal, and Dustin Penner replied for the Oilers (10-13-4), who suffered their third straight loss and eighth setback in 10 games.
"We actually had a couple good shifts to start the game but then it was like a deluge," said Edmonton coach Pat Quinn. "We couldn't sort things out, we couldn't pick up the right people, we couldn't keep it out of our net. The harder we tried, the worse we got."
McDonald reduced Edmonton's deficit to 5-2 at 6:06 of the second and, just over a minute later, Penner converted a Brule pass to bring the Oilers within two.
But Edler's goal put the Canucks ahead 6-3 at 12:08 and put to bed any thoughts of an Oilers comeback.
"We scored some big goals early and pucks were finding the net," said Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo. "It was nice to get that big lead. Sometimes you get into a bit of a trap with a four or five-goal lead. But after they scored a couple there, we really tightened up and played well the rest of the way."
The Canucks, benefiting from having a healthy lineup after several players were injured earlier in the season, outshot the Oilers 35-34 while going 4-for-5 on the power play. Edmonton went 2-for-4 with the man advantage.
"Obviously, our guys did not lie down," added Quinn. "They fought back and tried to make a game of it. They were doing pretty well until we took another penalty we couldn't kill and that was it."
Edmonton started slowly a night after learning second-leading scorer Ales Hemsky would be lost for the season with a shoulder injury.
The Canucks took advantage of an Edmonton squad that was missing eight players to injuries or illness, including No. 1 goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin.
"It was a very tough start for us," said Brule. "Obviously for us, you get down four goals on the road it's pretty tough to come back."
After the Canucks built a 2-0 lead, DesLauriers showed his frustration by punching Glass after making a glove save. The goaltender was assessed a roughing penalty and Raymond beat him with a high wrist shot on the ensuing power play.
"We're getting contribution from everybody all over the ice, which is huge," said Raymond. "When everybody's chipping in, it makes everyone's job really easy."
Daniel Sedin ended Deslauriers night on a high backhand at 8:25 of the first. It was Sedin's first goal of the season, but his second point in two games since missing 18 with a broken foot.
Quinn replaced DesLauriers with Devan Dubnyk, giving the fifth-year pro his first career NHL regular-season appearance.
Notes: Canuck winger Rick Rypien missed his second straight game with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Darcy Hordichuk again took his place. ... The Oilers are well on their way to surpassing last season's total of 225 man-games lost to injury. ... Edler's goal was his first since March 27 against Colorado. ... Edmonton rookie Ryan O'Marra recorded his first NHL point as he assisted on Penner's goal. ... Edmonton kicked off a six-game road trip. ... Penner's goal was his 15th in 27 games this season. He managed only 17 in all of 2008-09.
That wasn't the case on Saturday night.
Alex Edler and Mason Raymond each had a goal and two assists for Vancouver as the Canucks whipped the Edmonton Oilers 7-3.
Edler scored his first goal of the season -- and first in 33 games -- as the Canucks put four past Edmonton starting netminder Jeff DesLauriers on their first 11 shots. Vancouver built a 5-1 lead after the one and cruised most of the way to their fourth win in five games.
"That's the start we wanted," said Kesler, who added three assists. "We knew they were going to be a tired team from (Friday) night, having overtime and having to go to a shootout (in a loss to San Jose)."
Christian Ehrhoff, Alex Burrows, Tanner Glass, Daniel Sedin and Mikael Samuelsson also scored for the Canucks (14-11-0) before 18,818 at General Motors Place.
"Obviously, we jumped on them pretty hard in the beginning, got a lot of pucks on their net, and our power play was real good," said Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault.
"Any time you score the number of goals that we did in the first period in this league, it's a real good start."
Gilbert Brule, Colin McDonald, with his first NHL goal, and Dustin Penner replied for the Oilers (10-13-4), who suffered their third straight loss and eighth setback in 10 games.
"We actually had a couple good shifts to start the game but then it was like a deluge," said Edmonton coach Pat Quinn. "We couldn't sort things out, we couldn't pick up the right people, we couldn't keep it out of our net. The harder we tried, the worse we got."
McDonald reduced Edmonton's deficit to 5-2 at 6:06 of the second and, just over a minute later, Penner converted a Brule pass to bring the Oilers within two.
But Edler's goal put the Canucks ahead 6-3 at 12:08 and put to bed any thoughts of an Oilers comeback.
"We scored some big goals early and pucks were finding the net," said Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo. "It was nice to get that big lead. Sometimes you get into a bit of a trap with a four or five-goal lead. But after they scored a couple there, we really tightened up and played well the rest of the way."
The Canucks, benefiting from having a healthy lineup after several players were injured earlier in the season, outshot the Oilers 35-34 while going 4-for-5 on the power play. Edmonton went 2-for-4 with the man advantage.
"Obviously, our guys did not lie down," added Quinn. "They fought back and tried to make a game of it. They were doing pretty well until we took another penalty we couldn't kill and that was it."
Edmonton started slowly a night after learning second-leading scorer Ales Hemsky would be lost for the season with a shoulder injury.
The Canucks took advantage of an Edmonton squad that was missing eight players to injuries or illness, including No. 1 goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin.
"It was a very tough start for us," said Brule. "Obviously for us, you get down four goals on the road it's pretty tough to come back."
After the Canucks built a 2-0 lead, DesLauriers showed his frustration by punching Glass after making a glove save. The goaltender was assessed a roughing penalty and Raymond beat him with a high wrist shot on the ensuing power play.
"We're getting contribution from everybody all over the ice, which is huge," said Raymond. "When everybody's chipping in, it makes everyone's job really easy."
Daniel Sedin ended Deslauriers night on a high backhand at 8:25 of the first. It was Sedin's first goal of the season, but his second point in two games since missing 18 with a broken foot.
Quinn replaced DesLauriers with Devan Dubnyk, giving the fifth-year pro his first career NHL regular-season appearance.
Notes: Canuck winger Rick Rypien missed his second straight game with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Darcy Hordichuk again took his place. ... The Oilers are well on their way to surpassing last season's total of 225 man-games lost to injury. ... Edler's goal was his first since March 27 against Colorado. ... Edmonton rookie Ryan O'Marra recorded his first NHL point as he assisted on Penner's goal. ... Edmonton kicked off a six-game road trip. ... Penner's goal was his 15th in 27 games this season. He managed only 17 in all of 2008-09.