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Rypien, Luongo help Canucks bounce back vs. Oilers

Oct 13, 2007 - 3:40 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks rebounded nicely from an embarrassing defeat.

Two days after being routed, the Canucks got a solid performance from Luongo and an impressive one from Rick Rypien en route to a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.

Vancouver was playing for the first time since suffering an 8-2 loss to Philadelphia, a setback in which Luongo allowed four goals on 13 shots in the first period and was pulled. The 2007 Hart and Vezina Trophy runner-up was much better in this one, making 12 saves in the first period and 28 overall.

Luongo was given a 2-0 lead midway through the first period, as Henrik Sedin and Rypien tallied 2:24 apart.

From behind the net, Daniel Sedin backhanded a pass in front to his identical twin, who punched the puck past goaltender Mathieu Garon from the doorstep at 10:27.

Less than three minutes later, Jeff Cowan unleashed a snap shot from the right faceoff circle that Garon stopped. But Rypien, who was recalled from Manitoba of the American Hockey League earlier in the day, buried the rebound from the right side of the net with 7:09 remaining, giving the Canucks a two-goal bulge.

Defenseman Sheldon Souray halved the deficit for Edmonton with 10 seconds left in the opening period, settling a cross-slot pass by rookie Sam Gagner with his skate before beating Luongo to the glove side with a blast from the right circle.

With teammate Ryan Kesler in the penalty box for slashing, Alex Burrows restored the Canucks' two-goal lead at 3:12 of the second, skating down on a breakaway and depositing the puck just inside the left goalpost for a shorthanded tally.

Raffi Torres again drew the Oilers within a goal with 2:39 left in the middle session, knocking his own rebound past Luongo from the right side of the net during a power play. But when the puck came back to him after splitting two defenders at the blue line, Brendan Morrison scored on a high wrist shot 20 seconds later to give Vancouver a 4-2 advantage.

Captain Markus Naslund capped the scoring for the Canucks with a bad-angle tally with 2:10 left in the third.