Edmonton Oilers defeat Montreal Canadiens 4-1
Ales Hemsky lit the lamp twice as the Edmonton Oilers jumped out to a big lead in the final period to thrash the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 at Rexall Place on Thursday night.
Jordan Eberle and Ryan Jones each also tallied a goal for Edmonton, who notched back-to-back victories for the first time since winning four consecutive games between 29 November and 4 December.
Edmonton Head Coach Tom Renney praised his team's performance. He said, “At the end of the day, that’s what we have right now, playing the spoiler. We have to continue to gain respect. We are a proud organisation. We want to represent Edmonton and our fans
the way they would like us to and that means flat-out hard work and showing up every night."
Nikolai Khabibulin started the game in net, turning away 36-of-37 shots to earn his second win in as many starts. Jeff Halpern scored the lone goal for Montreal, who have dropped two straight contests and five of six in advance of taking on the Calgary Flames.
Carey Price allowed three goals on 27 shots in the loss.
The Oilers got on the board first to take a 1-0 lead just eight minutes into the game. On a solo rush from a faceoff win, Shawn Horcoff won a right-circle draw and Hemsky took control at the bottom of the circle, skated into the slot and fired a fore-hander
past Price.
Halpern then scored the equaliser to tie the scores at 1-1 for Montreal just four minutes into the middle session. He kept digging at a loose puck in the crease and finally knocked it into the net. The Oilers notched two goals in a 15-second span early in
the final frame to dominate the play.
Edmonton restored their lead at 2-1, just four minutes into the third period. Taylor Hall sent a pass in stride along the left wing for Eberle, who managed to slide the puck past Price. Jones increased the lead to 3-1, as he blasted a wrist shot into the
net from the right side.
However, Edmonton were unable to capitalise on two power plays, including a 5-on-3 later in the third period. Hemsky capped the final scoring at 4-1 with 55 seconds remaining in the game, as he hit the empty net to seal the win.
Canadiens Head Coach Jacques Martin said after the game, "If it hadn't have been for a couple of breakdowns in the third, I thought we had a good game. We created chances but their goaltending was strong."
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