Canucks edge Oilers 3-2 in OT

Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff fires the puck on Vancouver's Roberto Luongo Wednesday, January 20 at Rexall Place. The Canucks went on to defeat the Oilers 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Andy Devlin / Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club)

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PRE-GAME

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

PHOTOS

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VIDEO

Watch tonight's video highlights. Oilers post-game comments from Gagner, Dubnyk, O'Sullivan, Cogliano and Pat Quinn. Canucks post-game comments from Roberto Luongo, Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows and head coach Alain Vigneault.

AUDIO

Pat Quinn Devan Dubnyk Patrick O'Sullivan Andrew Cogliano Sam Gagner Audio Highlights

THREE STARS

Sam Gagner, EDM - goal + 6 shots Devan Dubnyk, EDM - 26 saves Daniel Sedin, VAN - 1g + 2a

UPDATE

With the lone point, the Oilers record now sits at 16-27-6 for 38 points.

WHAT'S NEXT

Edmonton continues its four-game homestand Friday, January 22 vs. Dallas. The game starts at 7:00pm and will be broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet West. The annual Oilers Skills Competition will be held this Sunday, January 24 at noon. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

After the Oilers scored the first goal of the game, the Canucks spent most of the remaining minutes playing catch-up, and with less than five minutes left in regulation, they got even. But early in sudden death, a tripping minor to Denis Grebeshov gave the visitors their fourth powerplay, and they capitalized for the third time to steal a 3-2 overtime win in Edmonton.

Sam Gagner and Sheldon Souray scored Edmonton's two goals, while rookie goalie Devan Dubnyk made 26 saves for second star honours.

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers and Canucks were evenly matched through the first eight minutes until Steve Bernier took a roughing penalty. Although Roberto Luongo's left post stopped the home team's first good scoring chance of the powerplay, the club soon capitalized on a Canucks line change and sent Gagner in on a partial breakaway. The young forward tucked the puck under Luongo's crossbar to put the Oil up 1-0.

Edmonton crafted an 11-5 shot lead following the goal, but the next successful shot would belong to Vancouver. 34 seconds into Zack Stortini's hooking minor, Henrik Sedin slipped the puck to ready and waiting Alex Burrows, who tapped it past Dubnyk to tie the game at one.

In the final minute, Andrew Cogliano and Tanner Glass concluded a face-off with coincidental slashing minors, ensuring 1:12 of four-on-four to start the second.

SECOND PERIOD

The Oilers came out strong in the middle frame, and just over two minutes in, the pressure paid off. On an offensive-zone face-off, Stortini fed the puck to Souray, who renewed Edmonton's lead by driving his scary slapshot through traffic and past Luongo.

Near the seven-minute mark, Shawn Horcoff put the Oilers back on the penalty kill by taking a high-sticking minor, but Dubnyk came up with a pair of big stops to keep his club up by one.

The powerplay tables turned later in the period when Alex Edler hooked up Gagner as he tried to tally his second of the game. Although the Oilers attained 22 shots on the powerplay, strong goaltending stretched the 2-1 game through the two minutes and into the third period.

THIRD PERIOD

Edmonton got the chance to increase their 25-17 shot lead with a third powerplay early in the final frame, but the club was unable to get the puck on Luongo and kept their slim margin. The man-advantage was followed by strong goaltending at the opposite end of the ice as the Canucks peppered Dubnyk to no avail.

Penalty box doors were kept swinging late in regulation when Horcoff and Burrows took coincidental roughing minors, followed by a holding minor to Cogliano. Only seven seconds into the third infraction, Sami Salo surprised Dubnyk with a slap shot and tied the game at two.

After 60 minutes, the teams found themselves even at 2-2 and headed to overtime.

OVERTIME

Less than a minute into sudden death, Denis Grebeshkov took Edmonton's sixth penalty of the game and triggered two minutes of four-on-three. Unfortunately, Daniel Sedin cut the two minutes short. At 1:39, the Canucks sniper tipped his brother's attempt past Dubnyk to seal a 3-2 win for the visitors.