Edmonton Oilers win fifth beat St. Louis Blues 4-2 -NHL Match Update
Ending the season opening month of October with five straight wins has certainly turned the image of Edmonton around as they continued winning with the Oilers beating the St. Louis Blues, 4-2, on Sunday, October 30, 2011, at the Rexall Place in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada.
In the past 11 games, Edmonton has improved their record to seven wins and only four losses, two of which were during shootouts and could have been the other way around.
Now the Oilers have taken the top spot of the Western Conference with 16 points, tied with the Dallas Stars and ahead of the 2010 Stanley Cup champions, Chicago Blackhawks, by two. Continuing this way, we could see Edmonton as one of the top contending teams
during the playoffs.
With a number of new acquisitions and young players, Edmonton has become a fun team to play on.
"It's a lot of fun playing for this team right now", Former Los Angeles Kings player, Ryan Smyth, said, after having a two point night. "The excitement, the energy from day to day, the creativity that the young kids bring, it's all awesome. We just want
to keep going. We have some momentum and we have to make sure we keep it going in the right direction".
Shawn Horcoff scored the opener during a power play early in the first period, set up by top 2011 National Hockey League (NHL) entry draft pick, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
David Backes put St. Louis on the board and levelled the match 3:58 into the second period but it was all Edmonton from there onwards.
Ryan Smyth made the tie-breaker, followed by Jordan Eberle with his third and another by Smyth for his second of the night and fifth of the season during the period’s only power play opportunity.
Alex Pietrangelo took advantage of Eric Belanger being called for boarding and being sent to the benches to bring the visiting team within reach of the score by two, but St. Louis failed to score anymore.
"He's such a good leader. He's just an Oiler," Edmonton coach, Tom Renney, said of Smyth. "I'm very proud of the fact that it means so much for him to be here”.
Edmonton Oilers will kick off their six-game road trip against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, while the Blues return home to host the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.
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