BOSTON PIZZA GAME PREVIEW
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
FINAL SO
1 - 0
FINAL SO 1 2 3 OT SO T
Oilers 0 0 0 0 1 (1-3) 1
Canucks 0 0 0 0 0 (0-3) 0
GOAL SCORERS

EDM:   A. Hemsky (00:00 - SO)
GOALIES

EDM: M. Garon (W)
 VAN: R. Luongo (L)
Oilers-Canucks Preview
Marc Ciampa
EDMONTON OILERS (6-10-1) at
VANCOUVER CANUCKS (8-8-0)

Start Time: 8:08 p.m. MST
Television: TSN (HD) in Canada & NHL Network in U.S.A.
Radio: 630 CHED, Oilers Radio Network and online at edmontonoilers.com.

The Edmonton Oilers try to continue their streak of two games having gained a point tonight at GM Place versus the Vancouver Canucks..

Edmonton wraps up a four-game road trip tonight. With a record of 1-1-1 through the first three games, a win tonight ensures the team finishes above .500 for the trip.

Last game, the Oilers defeated provincial rivals the Calgary Flames 4-2 on the strength of two goals from Shawn Horcoff. Mathieu Garon made 36 saves in a winning cause en route to being named first star.
Vancouver has struggled at home this season, with a record of 2-6-0 so far but did manage to win at home last time out on November 9 against the Avalanche by a score of 2-1. The Canucks haven't played a game in five days coming into tonight.

After a sub-par October that saw the team go 5-7-0, the Canucks are 3-1-0 in November so far including three straight wins heading into tonight.

The Canucks have won both meetings with Edmonton this season and in fact are 6-0-0 in six games played against Northwest Division opponents thus far in 2007-08.
Just The Facts...

OILERS TO WATCH: Raffi Torres has scored 10 goals in 22 career games against the Canucks, leading all Oilers in that category with the exception of Geoff Sanderson who has 12 goals in 33 games versus his two-time former team... Ales Hemsky has 16 points in 19 career games against Vancouver... Edmonton's leading scorers this season are its two rookies. Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner both have two points in two games against the Canucks so far this season.

CANUCKS TO WATCH: Brendan Morrison has had some success against the Oilers this season. In two games, he has a pair of goals and an assist for three points. Morrison has 10 points in 16 games this season which puts him on pace for 51 points, close to what he achieved each of the last two seasons... Trevor Linden has 83 points (26 goals) in 96 career games against Edmonton which puts him behind only Joe Sakic in career points versus the Oilers among active players... Roberto Luongo has 7 career wins against Edmonton which is the most n his career to-date versus any Western Conference team. His career 2.68 GAA versus Edmonton is his best against any Northwest Division opponent.

ROSTER UPDATES: Edmonton – Sheldon Souray (shoulder is out - he did not make the trip to Vancouverl. Ethan Moreau (foot) is out. Joni Pitkanen (knee) is out. Matt Greene (ankle) is out. Mathieu Roy (shoulder) is out; Vancouver – Sami Salo (nose) is out. Kevin Bieksa (leg) is out. Rick Rypien (finger) is out. Lukas Krajicek (ankle) is out. Jeff Cowan (hip) is day-to-day. He may return to the lineup if Taylor Pyatt (flu) can't go.

FAST FACTS: Vancouver is 8-2-0 in its last 10 games against the Oilers. Prior to that, the Oilers were 6-1-1 in their previous eight versus the Canucks... Brendan Morrison has never missed a game since being traded to Vancouver. Tonight is his 521st consecutive game as a Canuck and 529th overall. He has the longest active ironman streak in the entire league... Vancouver is 8-0-0 when leading after two periods in a game and 0-7-0 when trailing after 40 minutes.

News Update


Oilers recall Drouin-Deslauriers - The Edmonton Oilers have recalled goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers from the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League. ...more
The Answers

Pre-Game Audio...
The Numbers
The Other Side
  • The Back Page Canuck veterans, Brendan Morrison and Matt Cooke are put to the test to see how well they know their team.  Plus bits and pieces from around canucks.com. ...more
  • The Right Attitude Much was made of Alain Vigneault’s challenge to Alex Burrows at training camp. At the time, the Canucks coach stated very matter-of-factly that the feisty winger needed to stand out from day one... ...more
  • Canucks Report Bieksa talks about his injury, Pyatt is sick, and Cowan is ready. More
  • Coach Practice Raw - Nov.13.07 Alain Vigneault talks to the media post practice Tuesday morning. WATCH
From the Fans
Odds and Ends
  • Oilers Photo Blog brought to you by Bell - View the most recent installment of the Oilers Photo Blog with pictures taken from several road trips in October, including L.A., Minnesota, Vancouver, Detroit and Phoenix. ...more
From the Wire

One season after surprisingly winning the Northwest Division, the rest of the NHL appears to have caught up with the Vancouver Canucks. Their own division, though, continues lagging behind.

The Canucks look to stay unbeaten against Northwest foes and extend their winning streak to a season-best four games on Wednesday night when they host the Edmonton Oilers at GM Place.

Vancouver has won seven straight from Edmonton, including a home-and-home series on Oct. 13-14. The Canucks' Roberto Luongo has been in goal in each game during the streak, and has limited the Oilers to two goals or less in six of those victories.

The Canucks are 6-0-0 against Northwest opponents, but just 2-8-0 against all other foes.

Though they're seven points behind current division-leader Colorado, Vancouver (8-8-0) has beaten the Avalanche twice during its current win streak, including a 2-1 overtime win on Friday.

Henrik Sedin, the team's second-leading scorer with 15 points, had both goals. But he said he was looking to get the puck to his twin brother Daniel, the leading scorer with 16 points. The puck just happened to deflect off defenseman Avalanche defenseman Kurt Sauer and past goaltender Jose Theodore.

"Most of them are ugly, I don't think I've scored from further out than 10 feet," Henrik said. "The second one was supposed to be a pass."

Vancouver's streak started after it lost two of their top defensemen, Sami Salo and Kevin Bieska, to injuries during a shutout loss to Nashville on Nov. 3. Salo is out indefinitely with a broken nose while Bieksa may not play again until January due to a lacerated right calf.

The Canucks have picked up their play recently, but the Oilers have spent most of the season sputtering.

Edmonton (6-10-1) won at Calgary 4-2 on Saturday, the Oilers' first victory since beating defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim 3-2 on Oct. 28. They've given up 57 goals, among the worst in the Western Conference, but their power play has been a bigger issue. Edmonton has gone just 7-for-70 with a man-advantage this season with two of those goals coming against the Flames.

Backup goalie Mathieu Garon also may have ensured he'll see more ice time after making 37 saves for his third win this season. Garon has been in net for Edmonton's last two wins, including last month's triumph over the Ducks. Veteran Dwayne Roloson, the team's opening-night netminder, has gone 3-8-1 with a 3.14 goals-against average so far this season. Roloson, who's lost his last four starts, has never finished a season with GAA more than 3.

"I felt like (Garon) was ready to play and I like the way he has been playing and he played very well again," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. "He made a couple real game-breaking saves."

On Tuesday, the Oilers recalled goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers from Springfield of the American Hockey League.

Center Shawn Horcoff, who leads the Oilers with seven goals and nine assists, scored twice. He has just one assist in two losses this season to the Canucks, and has three goals and two assists during his current four-game points streak on the road.

The Oilers are 3-6-1 in road games this season, while the Canucks are just 2-6-0 at GM Place.




 
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