Edmonton Oilers win second-straight to start the season
The new-look Edmonton Oilers defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Sunday and are now 2-0 to start the season.
Although the Oilers won their first game of the season in style against the Calgary Flames on Thursday, this win was a little more on the ugly side after some controversy on the winning
goal by Shawn Horcoff in the second period. It appeared that Horcoff had kicked in a centring feed from Oilers rookie Taylor Hall, however, the goal was upheld by video review. It also gave Hall, the first overall pick in the 2010 National Hockey League Entry
Draft, his first career NHL point.
Although the goal survived video review, the Panthers were shocked that the goal was allowed.
"It looked like a kick to me," Panthers coach Peter DeBoer said. "The interpretation of that rule, I don't understand. I don't know if you have to take a punter's kick at it in order for
it not to count. That's what the league gets paid to do, make those decisions, and we have to live with them."
Florida goaltender Tomas Vokoun was also surprised with the call.
"It looked pretty clear to me," he said. "I don't know else a kicking motion could be described as. It didn't surprise me that they counted it. They are trying to get the scoring up so
they are counting everything, I guess."
Despite the win by the Oilers, the Panthers clearly carried the play and held a 23-7 shots advantage after two periods of play, but found themselves down 3-2.
Oilers coach Tom Renney admitted that his team was outplayed at times in the game but gave credit to goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin.
"He was outstanding," he said. "He was our best player. It's good to know we have that. It's probably not the last time we will see something like that. We're certainly going to have to
minimize nights like tonight if we want to be a play-off team."
Khabibulin admitted that he is feeling a lot better after suffering a season-ending injury last November.
"I felt pretty good. I felt better today that I did in the first game," he said. "I think games like that are going to happen whether you're a young team or not. It's just good that we've
got the two points."
Dustin Penner and Ryan Jones also scored for the Oilers while Marty Reasoner had both goals for the Panthers.
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