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Canwest News Service
VANCOUVER – They were driven and determined to end the mismatch with a first-round knockout.
Then the Vancouver Canucks got cute and sloppy and allowed the injury- ravaged Edmonton Oilers to gather themselves off the GM Place canvas before scoring a 7-3 decision on Saturday. While the score would make the outcome seem unanimous, it wasn't a total domination.
On a night when it looked like the Canucks would take any fight out of the opposition with a five-goal barrage in the first period – one short of the franchise record – they had to regroup after allowing two goals in a span of 1:04 in the second period that turned a 5-1 laugher into a brief 5-3 head- scratcher.
This is what happens when you say all the right things before playing a team that's missing nine injured players and learned Friday that winger Ales Hemsky requires season-ending shoulder surgery. This is what happens when you know the Oilers had also lost nine of their previous 10 road games. You start strong. You score four times in the first nine minutes and chase starting goaltender Jeff Deslauriers in favour of rookie Devan Dubnyk because Nikolai Khabibulin sat his sixth straight game with back spasms.
Then, you start to think points night. You cheat in the offensive zone and forget the defensive zone.
It might be like picking away at a minor scab, but the Canucks know they can't afford any lapses Sunday night when they host the league-leading San Jose Sharks. So, when Roberto Luongo allowed rookie Colin McDonald to score his first NHL goal with a wrister to the far side in the second period before Dustin Penner deposited a cross-ice, power-play feed from Gilbert Brule, there was some cause for concern.
However, when Alex Edler drifted a power-play wrister home in the second period to make it another three-goal cushion, the Canucks got the collective message. Don't allow the Oilers to gain momentum. And when Mikael Samuelsson scored a power-play goal in the third period to cap scoring – making it a four- for-five night on the power play – it made it 23 goals in the last five games for the surging Canucks.
With five wins in their last six outings at The Garage and improving to 10-3- 0 on home ice, the Canucks can start thinking about moving up the standings while the Oilers lost their fifth-straight road game and can only think of what could have been if they were healthy. They have only won four of their last 18 games (4-11-3) and while they tried to make a game of it, it didn't start out that way.
The Canucks knew the Oilers were also missing Marc Pouliot (hernia), Ryan Stone (knee surgery), Robert Nilsson (concussion), Taylor Chorney (ankle), Fernando Pisano (colitis), Mike Comrie (mononucleosis) and Denis Grebeshkov (knee). They knew these were two points for the taking and took it to the Oilers early and often.
A Christian Ehrhoff power-play slapper at 3:16 of the opening period was the first blow. Darcy Hordichuk then scored a decision over Jason Strudwick in a one-sided bout before Alex Burrows spun down low and went backhand to forehand to make it 2-0. The Oilers were so frustrated that Deslauriers delivered a blocker blow to Tanner Glass in the crease and the Canucks responded with a Mason Raymond power-play wrister that made it a 10-1 shot advantage. Daniel Sedin's first goal of the season then chased Deslauriers and the deal seemed sealed.
However, Brule banged home a Sam Gagner rebound before Glass would scored late in the opening frame to make it 5-1.
bkuzma@theprovince.com
