Canucks/Oilers post-game comments

Canucks win 3-2 in OT over Edmonton. Daniel Sedin scored game winner on PP.


It's easy to see why the Oilers have lost six straight games. That bag skate they went through didn't win them any puck battles.

Their first goal was on a brutal line change by the Canucks penalty kill crew, allowing Sam Gagner to walk in untouched and bury one past Luongo.

Then, as usual, the Sedins and Alex Burrows struck, and tied it up. The Canucks, by this point, had been outworking the Oilers, in their own rink no less, all game long. Sheldon Souray was able to put one behind a screened Luongo and send the Oilers into the third with a 2-1 lead.

Fortunately for the Canucks, the Oilers figured the game was over by that point, as long as they played some good ol' Pat Quinn defense. And don't get me wrong, they did that. One problem. They did it while getting beat to every puck by the Canucks, all period long. You can see that Quinn's coaching style could win games, as long as there's some effort to get the puck, just because as soon as a Canuck would think he had an open lane, the Oilers would suffocate him.

As soon as the Canucks got a little space on a powerplay? Bam. Sedin, Sedin, Salo, goal. And what worse to do than give the league's leading scorer some space from a 4-on-3 powerplay in overtime? Sedin, Sedin, goal. Game over.

One think Canucks fans gotta love is the presence of mind by Daniel Sedin on the pass from his brother to back up in the slot before it came to him. Make no mistake, rookie goalie Devin Dubnyk knew that pass was coming. But as soon as he took his eyes off Daniel and put them onto Henrik, Daniel backed up and was no longer in the same place that Dubnyk thought he was before. That little move by Daniel won the Canucks the game, and saved them the agony of losing to the Oilers.

Of course, it helped brother Hank to extend his lead on the NHL scoring race.