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Gagner, Roloson push Oilers past Blues

Jan 12, 2009 - 5:02 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Sam Gagner made sure the Edmonton Oilers ended their longest homestand of the season with a win.

Gagner scored the go-ahead goal 6:31 into the third period and added an assist to lift Edmonton to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

Dwayne Roloson made 21 saves to register his 12th win of the season as the Oilers finished their homestand with a 3-2-0 mark.

"We played a smart game," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. "We played a lot smarter than we had the last couple games. We didn't blow them out of the water or anything, but we had a very sharp game."

Waiting at the top of the left circle, Gagner took a cross-ice pass from Erik Cole and blasted a one-timer past Manny Legace for his fourth goal of the season.

"We talked the last few days about getting that energy back," Gagner said. "Last year at the end of the season, we were gaining energy from everything - whether a hit or a big play.

"We really need to establish that again. There was a lot of emotion tonight and that's the way we have to play. Hopefully we can build off of it."

Edmonton dominated the final session, holding an 11-3 edge in shots, but Legace made a great save on Cole to keep the Blues within striking distance. However Roloson went virtually untested in the third as St. Louis did not register a shot until 3:03 left in the contest.

"Manny makes three saves at the start of the third period when it's 1-1 - (those) were outstanding saves," St. Louis coach Andy Murray said. "Might've been one of Manny's best efforts of the year."

Ryan Potulny registered a pair of assists after being recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League earlier on Sunday.

Yan Stastny staked the Blues to a 1-0 lead just 2:44 into the second period on assists from Jay McClement and defenseman Roman Polak.

"We could've played better," Stastny said. "Edmonton played well. They outworked us a good chunk of the game and they ended up scoring some timely goals."

Gilbert Brule's first goal of the season snapped a streak of 55 straight games without a goal and tied the game at 1-1 just 8:49 into the second period.

"I'm getting a little more comfortable out there," Brule said. "We outshot them pretty good and I think we played a pretty smart game. We moved the puck a lot better than our last game and finished all our checks."

Legace stopped 26 shots for St. Louis, which failed in its attempt for a third straight win.