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Saturday, Mar. 25 10:00pm ET
Canucks' amazing run continues | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- A few months ago, the Vancouver Canucks were a team destined to fail. Their goaltending was soft, their captain seemed on the outs and the playoffs were a mere afterthought. But effort and determination has pulled Vancouver within one point of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Markus Naslund scored the game-winner late in the third period Saturday night, leading the Canucks to a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. "We're coming down to the nitty gritty now," said Todd Bertuzzi, who had a goal and an assist. "We've been putting a lot of great efforts forward and coming out with a lot of big wins." Minutes after Edmonton's Ethan Moreau tied it, Naslund took a perfect feed from Ed Jovanovski and beat a helpless Tommy Salo at 14:24. The Canucks, who held on to captain Mark Messier through the trade deadline, have five wins in six games (5-1-0) and have scored 29 times. Harold Druken added a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who are only one point out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Vancouver, with 78 points, trails eighth-place Phoenix. Doug Weight opened the scoring at 3:48 of the first when he lifted a rebound past Felix Potvin. "We've been playing excellent lately and we're on a good roll," Bertuzzi said. "Tomorrow will be a good day off for the guys to regroup and get back to work against LA at home." Druken tied it in the first minute of the second, beating Salo during a power play. It was Druken's sixth goal and first on the power play. Bertuzzi made it 2-1 with his 23rd goal, scored at 4:21 of the third, after he parked himself in front of the Edmonton net and banged the puck past Salo. Moreau tied it at 10:43. Potvin continued his stellar play, stopping 26 shots, including 12 in the third period. He made several stellar saves with his glove hand, to get his 16th victory. "The team is playing very good in front of me," Potvin said. "That helps a lot when you cut down the chances. I just try to keep it simple, do my job and give them a chance to win." Edmonton is in sixth place in the West with 80 points, two behind Northwest Division-leading Colorado. The Oilers split a four-game homestand. "It's coming down, we've got seven games to go," Oilers center Todd Marchant said. "We've got to bear down just a little bit more. When you've got a 2-2 tie in your building in the last period, you have to try stick that out. "There's seven games (left) and every single game is against a team we're fighting for a playoff spot. It's playoff hockey. This is our first round." | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Vancouver Clubhouse Edmonton Clubhouse RECAPS Los Angeles 4 Boston 4
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