Vancouver, BC (SportsNetwork.com) – Alexander Edler scored with 2:31 remaining
in overtime, as the Vancouver Canucks ended the regular season with a 6-5
victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Edler added two assists, Sven Baertschi scored twice and Ryan Miller made 23
saves in his first start in nearly two months for the Canucks, who scored the
final three goals and head into the postseason on a three-game winning streak.
The Canucks’ 48-29-5 record was good for second place in the Pacific Division
and home-ice advantage against the Flames in the first round of the playoffs.
Benoit Pouliot recorded a goal and two assists, but the Oilers (24-44-14)
finished the season with 62 points — the third fewest in the league. Ben
Scrivens gave up all six goals on 23 shots.
Edmonton’s Nail Yakupov scored off a turnover at the 9:45 mark of the opening
period, and another mistake by the Canucks on the ensuing shift led to Jordan
Eberle’s tally 11 seconds later.
Daniel Sedin scored off a nice feed from Edler with 6:50 remaining in the
opening frame, and Kevin Bieksa snapped a 26-game scoreless drought with a
wraparound early in the second to even things.
Pouliot gift-wrapped a goal for Taylor Hall and scored on a one-timer in a
4:03 span midway through the second, and after Baertschi scored his first goal
of the season, Teddy Purcell caught the Canucks on a line change and sent the
Oilers into the third with a 5-3 lead.
Jannik Hansen and Baertschi scored four minutes apart in the third, the latter
sneaking one through Scrivens’ pads with 10:07 left in regulation.
Game Notes
Miller had not played since suffering a sprained knee on Feb. 22 … Miller
has never lost to the Oilers in 12 starts … The Canucks swept the five-game
season series.
