Raffi Torres scores hat trick against his former team in win
There was obviously no lingering sense of allegiance to his former club as Raffi Torres almost single-handedly outdid the Edmonton Oilers, scoring a hat trick to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-3 victory
on Tuesday, 2 November.
How it happened
The Canucks seemed well in control after the first period as they outshot the Oilers 11-5 and went into the intermission up 3-0.
Daniel Sedin started the scoring with his eighth of the season on the power play. Thirty-two seconds later and Torres made it 2-0 with his fourth of the season. Torres scored again just under four minutes
later with a power play marker at 15:13 of the first.
But the Oilers were not going down without a fight, and got a lifeline with the only goal of the second period as Dustin Penner collected his fourth of the season.
Barely over five minutes into the third period and the Oilers had tied it up with goals from Ryan Jones and Gilbert Brule. But once again it was Raffi Torres who stepped up and collected his third on the
night at 10:53 of the third period with a speculative backhand near the blue line which sneaked past Nikolai Khabibulin in the Edmonton goal.
What they're saying
After a memorable evening, Torres, who spent parts of four seasons with the Oilers, reflected on his time spent in Edmonton.
"I had a lot of good times here. This franchise was nothing but good to me. If you don't produce, they have to make changes. It's a nice feeling, obviously, but the win is more important right now," he
said.
Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault took the opportunity to praise Torres, who signed with the Canucks over the summer as an unrestricted free agent.
"He's been a real solid player for us," Vigneault said. "He came to camp with a great attitude and real good conditioning. Since day one, he's doing the right things on the ice. He's doing the right things
off the ice. He's played real well for us."
The Canucks have now won four in a row and once again lead the Northwest Division. They get set to take on the Colorado Avalanche, who sit just a single point behind them, in Colorado, on Thursday, 4 November.
After beating the Chicago Blackhawks 7-4 last Friday, a win that snapped a six-game losing the streak, the Oilers once again came up short and remain in last place in the Western Conference. They prepare
to face the Detroit Red Wings at home on Friday, 5 November.
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