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Saturday, Dec. 4 10:00pm ET
Smyth's 2 goals help Oilers outgush Canucks | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
EDMONTON (AP) -- Ryan Smyth stayed around the net, and was rewarded for his diligence. Smyth scored two goals to lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks before a sellout crowd of 17,100 Saturday night at the Skyreach Centre. "We rebounded with this one," Smyth said. "That's huge for us. Our goal was to come out with an emphasis to take it over. Obviously, we slowed down a little bit." The Oilers, who lost 3-2 in overtime in Vancouver on Thursday night, scored on two of their first three shots and outshot the Canucks 16-5 in the first period. The Canucks came back to outshoot the Oilers 12-4 in the second period, but the Oilers regrouped and Smyth scored the winning goal with hard work from the side of the net with 7:09 remaining. "Selly (Alex Selivanov) did some great work in front," Smyth said of his winning goal. "He got the puck back to Brett Hauer. My job is in front." Smyth capitalized from familiar territory around the goalmouth, as he had on the opening goal. He was credited with the first goal with a tip of defenseman Janne Niinimaa's point shot on a power play at 2:23 of the first period. "It was a game all the guys wanted," Oilers coach Kevin Lowe said. "You could feel it in the dressing room. In spite of giving up a two-goal lead, the guys played smart." Bill Guerin also scored for the Oilers, who are 10th in the Western Conference at 8-12-6-4. Markus Naslund and Adrian Aucoin had power-play goals for Vancouver, which leads the Northwest Division at 11-10-6-1. "It was one of those nights that didn't start out the way we wanted it to," Canucks defenseman Ed Jovanovski said. "We battled back. But it wasn't enough. The outcome was definitely not what we wanted." Doug Weight, dazed after a hard hit in the third period, had two assists for the Oilers. "It was tough," Weight said. "Vancouver's going to give you that. They're physical." The Oilers allowed two power-play goals on six chances. "Stupid penalties are no good," Smyth said. "It takes the wind out of your sails." | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Vancouver Clubhouse Edmonton Clubhouse RECAPS Chicago 9 Boston 3
Edmonton 3
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