Sunday, December 16, 2007

Oilers mastering the shoot out




Another shoot out and another Edmonton win.

If anyone is looking for dissenters on the latest addition to the play of the NHL game, they probably won't find them in Edmonton.
The Oilers have found unusual success with the one on one approach to settling tie games, having a remarkable 10 and 1 record this year when the game moves into the shoot out phase.

Saturday night, Curtis Sanford and the Vancouver Canucks were the victims to the Oilers shoot out mastery, as Fernando Pisani potted the winning goal over a dejected Sanford who broke his stick in frustration as he exited the Rexall Place ice surface on Saturday night.

The second half of the Hockey Night in Canada double header was a scoreless draw up until the final four minutes of play when the two teams traded goals to send the match into a scoreless overtime.

From there it was time for the shootout and the Oilers eventual 2-1 victory, which moves them above the 500 mark on the season for the first time since October. The Canucks depleted again by injuries dropped their third game of a four game road trip, wrapping up a trip that saw a number of Manitoba Moose inserted in the line up to help out the parent club on their West coast road trip.

The Canucks return home for a Tuesday match with New Jersey, while the Oilers will remain at Rexall Place to take on Dallas. If they're smart, the Stars will give a bit of practice to their shoot out skills, just in case.

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