Vancouver Canucks make short work of Edmonton Oilers with 5-2 win - NHL Update
The game was as easy as it could get for the Vancouver Canucks as they started a six game road trip with a 5-2 demolition of Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, February 19th, 2012 at the Rexall Place in Edmonton.
The Canucks, never faced much pressure and confidently strutted on the rink putting in goal after goal against both Oilers goaltenders Nikolai Khabibulin and Devan Dubnyk.
The fourth straight win keeps Vancouver in contention for the top spot in the Western Conference as they trail Detroit Red Wings by just two points as they rank second with a 38-15-6 record and 82 points.
The Sedin twins each scored a goal and provided an assist during the game and Centre Henrik Sedin who started off the scoring was more than happy with the performance.
Talking to the media after the game he said.
"This was a good start to our trip. From the first faceoff, we started well in the game and we were never really in any trouble. This is a long and tough road trip for us and it was nice to start it off with a win like this one."
Edmonton, lost its third straight game and their poor form has seen them drop down to 14th in the Western Conference with a 22-30-6 record and 50 points.
With the Oilers trailing eighth placed Calgary Flames by 15 points this defeat more than confirms their absence from the playoff rounds.
Edmonton was outplayed right from the start as they went down 2-0 in the first period.
Edmonton associate coach Ralph Krueger was highly disappointed in the way the game panned out.
"We have to be really disappointed with the start tonight. Digging out of a hole against a team as strong as Vancouver is a difficult task. The game was almost out of reach right off the bat."
The Canucks went up 2-0 in the first six minutes. Henrik Sedin scored just 53-seconds into the game to make it 1-0 and six minutes later Sami Salo’s power play goal made it 2-0.
Edmonton showed some signs of life early in the second period with Shawn Horcoff pegging back the Canucks lead at 1:08 to make it 2-1.
Vancouver, though regained their two goal advantage at 15:01 as Kevin Bieksa made it 3-1 and a minute later Chris Higgins scored to put Vancouver up four goals to one.
The Oilers Magnus Paajarvi scored at 18:23 to make it 4-2 but the game was all but over.
Daniel Sedin completed the rout with the fifth goal just 33-seconds into the third period and the Canucks were more than happy to see out the rest of the game.
Edmonton Oilers will face another tough game against Calgary Flames on Tuesday while Vancouver will look to continue their push for the top spot in the Western Conference on Tuesday at home to the Nashville Predators.
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