CENOVUS GAME STORY

Under the Scope: Oilers vs. Canucks

An in-depth look at Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks

Tuesday, 25.10.2011 / 9:07 PM / Cenovus Game Story
By Travis Knee  - edmontonoilers.com



Taylor Hall recorded a goal and an assist, while Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 35 shots to help the Oilers hold on to beat the rival Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night at Rexall Place.

The Oilers got three goals in the second period and Khabibulin continued his hot play to start the season, holding the fort down the stretch to record his 3rd win of 2011-2012.

All you need to know and more as we go Under the Scope:

A surge of energy mid-way through the second period led to back-to-back goals for the Oilers. First it was Ryan Smyth winning a battle behind the net and feeding Shawn Horcoff. That was followed 57 seconds later when Taylor Hall scored from Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The Oilers would hold on for a 3-2 win.
243 Number of consecutive sellouts the Oilers have had at Rexall Place, dating back to November 29, 2005.
5 The number of total points for the Oilers "kid line" tonight. Eberle, Hall and Nugent-Hopkins continue to lead the way offensively.
26 The number of blocked shots on the season for Oilers defenseman, Ladislav Smid. He leads the team in this category and ranks 3rd in the league.
4 The number of wins for the Oilers through 8 games. It would take 12 games for the Oilers to hit this mark last season.
 


Jordan Eberle
G A P +/- Shots
1 1 2 +2 4


Taylor Hall
G A P +/- Shots
1 1 2 +2 4



Alex Burrows
G A P +/- Shots
1 0 1 -1 3



 
Canucks
Roberto Luongo
SA SV GA TOI SV%
14 11 3 26:55 .786
OILERS
Nikolai Khabibulin
SA SV GA TOI SV%
37 35 2 60:00 .946



 
Canucks
  Kevin Bieksa- D

24:43 - 0 PTS, -2 rating
OILERS
Corey Potter - D

27:37 - 1 PTS, +1 rating


With the Oilers up 2-0, the kid line of Hall, Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins would strike again for the Oil. Leading the rush up ice, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would feed a pass cross-crease, bouncing off Eberle's skate and onto Taylor Hall's stick. Hall would tap it in to complete a pretty play for the Oilers.

Nikolai Khabibulin continues to provide stellar goaltending for the Edmonton Oilers. With the game on the line tonight, Khabibulin was up to the challange, stopping 35 of 37 shots to preserve the win. Khabinulin now has a 0.97 GAA and .963 SV%.

Corey Potter won't fly under the radar for much longer if he continues to play like this. The Oilers defenseman collected another point tonight, an assist on Jordan Eberle's goal, bringing him to four points on the year. Potter was also great in his own end, blocking four shots and finishing with a +1 rating while leading all Oilers in ice-time, playing 27:37.

Both teams would go 0 for 3 on the powerplay in tonight's game, with only eight total shots fired on net in the six attempts. Looking back, it was the Vancouver Canucks that scored the first ever powerplay goal against the Oilers at home back on Oct 14th, 1979.

 


"Khabby was really dialed in, and he sees the effort in front of him. We're getting an outstanding effort from him"

-- Edmonton Oilers head coach Tom Renney on goalie Nikolai Khabibulin's play this season.


Thursday, October 27 vs. Washington
  7:30pm MDT (TSN / 630 CHED)

The Oilers will play their fourth straight at home Thursday night when they welcome the Washington Capitals to Rexall Place. It will be the one and only meeting between these two clubs this season and can be seen live on TSN at 7:30 MT.
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