Oilers slay Panthers 3-2 in shootout

Edmonton's Jeff Deslauriers smothers the puck as Florida skaters apply pressure Monday night. The Oilers won 3-2 in a shootout. (Photo by Getty Images)

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PRE-GAME

Preview Game Notes Head-to-Head Stats Comparison Game Program Video interviews Audio Interviews

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Watch the highlights Watch the entire shootout Post-game video interviews with Jeff Deslauriers, Shawn Horcoff, Lubomir Visnovsky and Pat Quinn. THE OTHER SIDE: Panthers post-game with Radek Dvorak, Keith Ballard, Dominic Moore and head coach Peter DeBoer.

AUDIO

Audio Highlights Lubomir Visnovsky Shawn Horcoff Jeff Deslauriers Pat Quinn

SHOOTOUT RESULTS

Edmonton: O'Sullivan - miss Nilsson - SCORE Horcoff - SCORE Florida: Reinprecht - miss Weiss - miss Olesz - SCORE

THREE STARS

Lubomir Visnovsky, EDM - Two assists Dominic Moore, FLA - two goals Shawn Horcoff, EDM - two goals, including shootout game-winner

UPDATE

With the win, the Oilers improve to .500 with a record of 13-13-4, good for 12th spot in the Western Conference with 30 points.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Oilers travel up-state to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, December 9. The game starts at 5:30pm MST and will be broadcast right here on edmontonoilers.com.

by Jen Sharpe | edmontonoilers.com

Although the Oilers couldn't hold on to the lead Shawn Horcoff gave them early in the second period, the club battled back against the Panthers to force overtime and a shootout for the second straight game. Like in Dallas, Head Coach Pat Quinn put the win in Horcoff's hands and the veteran center didn't disappoint, sniping home the game-winner to seal another 3-2 shootout win for the Oilers.

Dustin Penner scored the game-tying goal for Edmonton, while Jeff Deslauriers stopped 33 shots, plus two in the shootout, for his third straight victory.

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers and Panthers matched eachother shot-for-shot through the first eight minutes, but Jeff Deslauriers and Tomas Vokoun kept an early opening goal off the clock.

At that point, Florida jumped ahead thanks to a boarding penalty to Gilbert Brule, but Edmonton's goalie turned away all five powerplay shots. Two minutes later, the Oilers enjoyed their powerplay debut when Dominic Moore hooked Dustin Penner, but like their opponents, the club was unable to capitalize.

The Panthers and Oilers finished the first with 16 and seven shots respectively, but Deslauriers, Vokoun, and posts at both ends of the ice forced the scoreless game into the middle frame.

SECOND PERIOD

The Panthers went back on the penalty kill early in the second period, and although the Oilers took some time to get going, they eventually made their man-advantage count. After surrendering a shorthanded shot, the visitors got the puck to Shawn Horcoff, who benefited from a lucky deflection to notch the game's opening goal.

But 2:31 later, the Panthers got back on even terms. After a failed clearing attempt by Deslauriers, Moore was presented with the puck at the corner of the net and forced it between the goalie's skate and the post to tie the game at one.

Hooking and holding minors to Sam Gagner and Ladislav Smid gave Florida the chance to take their first lead of the game, but Deslauriers turned away his 24th shot to stretch the 1-1 game.

In the dying seconds of the period, Robert Nilsson narrowly avoided a scary collision between Florida's Gregory Campbell and Bryan Allen that resulted in Campbell lying face-first on the ice. After being thoroughly assessed, he was helped off the ice as a trainer cradled his face and head.

The injury concluded a period in which both teams tallied nine shots and one goal.

THIRD PERIOD

The Oilers took their third straight penalty only 27 seconds into the third, and the club couldn't keep up its perfect penalty killing. Although Deslauriers started the PK with two big stops, a minute into the man-advantage the puck deflected off Steve Staios and flew into the net for the go-ahead goal courtesy of Moore.

Edmonton got payback three minutes later. From the middle of the blueline, Lubomir Visnovsky one-timed a pass from Ladislav Smid that caught Dustin Penner's stick and flew into the net, tying things up 2-2.

The Panthers came within inches of regaining their lead when Mike Duco slipped the puck past Deslauriers, but the hometown crowd hadn't counted on Jean-Francois Jacques, who stepped in and swept the puck away.

The Cats attacked near the end of regulation but Deslauriers made spectacular saves to keep his club in the hunt for two points and force extra time for the second straight game.

OVERTIME

Midway through the extra frame, the Bryan McCabe gifted the Oilers their fourth powerplay by taking a hooking minor. The visitors kept pressure on Vokoun through four-on-three and then came achingly close to scoring in the final seconds of sudden death, but the game was destined for a shootout.

SHOOTOUT

Goalies won the first three breakaway relays until Nilsson lit the lamp by deflecting the puck off Vokoun's right post and into the net. But Olesz countered by beating Deslauriers with a backhander, putting the win in the hands of Horcoff for the second time in as many games.

And as it happened in Dallas, the Oilers center stepped up to the plate, firing past Vokoun to notch his second straight shootout winner and give the Oilers a second straight 3-2 shootout victory.