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Roloson leads Oilers past Wild

Jan 17, 2007 - 5:44 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- This time Dwayne Roloson was on the winning side of a close encounter with his former team.

Roloson made 28 saves and the Edmonton Oilers came up with a pair of power-play goals to post a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

Making his seventh start against the Wild since being traded from Minnesota to Edmonton in March, Roloson entered the game with a 2-4 record and a 2.15 goals-against average against his former club.

"We played the game we had to play to win the hockey game. We grinded it out, we played well," Roloson said. "We eliminated their quality scoring chances and played a smart hockey game. It's a big win for us. We needed to come out and play strong to win the hockey game.

"They have a lot of strong offensive threats over there and we have a pretty good defensive club. We handled them pretty well tonight and eliminated a lot of their quality scoring chances."

Roloson did yield a third-period goal to Wes Walz but that was it despite Minnesota putting the pressure on in the closing minutes.

"We knew the motivation for Roly obviously coming back here, but he certainly doesn't need any extra motivation," said Edmonton assistant coach Craig Simpson, who filled in as coach Craig MacTavish missed the game because of a family illness. "I thought he was sharp right from the beginning, gave us some confidence early on when we did make mistakes that he would shut the door.

"You know looking down that last minute, you know it will be hectic when you are trying to hold a one-goal lead and he made a couple five-bell saves that really allowed us to pull through tonight."

Walz beat Roloson with a shot from the right circle with 7:55 to play. The Wild continued to keep the puck in the Canucks end but were unable to net the equalizer. Martin Skoula had the best chance but Roloson made a glove save on a hard shot with 8.4 seconds left.

"I didn't," Roloson said when asked if he initially saw Skoula's shot. "I saw it at the last minute and was able to get my glove out and grab onto it."

Joffrey Lupul scored with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. Marc-Andre Bergeron netted the game-winner midway through the second period.

Manny Fernandez made 16 saves for Minnesota, which has lost three straight at home.

"They sat on their heels and Roly made some really big saves," Wild right wing Brian Rolston said. "They didn't give many second opportunities, you have to say that as well. They did a nice job at clearing. But for the most part I'm proud of our effort. I thought we played hard."