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Oilers-Canucks Preview

Oct 25, 2009 - 6:56 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Edmonton (6-2-1) at Vancouver (4-5-0), 10:00 p.m. EDT

After getting off to a sluggish start to the season, goaltender Roberto Luongo is once again playing like an All-Star and putting the Vancouver Canucks in a position to win.

Luongo looks to lead the Canucks to their third straight victory and help them avenge their only loss of the past week Sunday night when they host the Edmonton Oilers.

Vancouver (5-5-0) defeated Toronto 3-1 on Saturday behind Mason Raymond's first two-goal game since a 6-3 victory over the Oilers on Oct. 25, 2008.

Raymond opened the scoring with a power-play tally at 14:50 of the first period, and added his second goal into an empty net with 7.9 seconds left to help the Canucks win their second in a row and move to .500 for the first time this season.

Although the Canucks won, it wasn't their best performance. They were outshot 36-25 and outplayed by the winless Maple Leafs, but Luongo finished with a season-high 35 saves, many coming in spectacular fashion.

"Roberto gave us a chance to win this game," said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault, who plans on giving the four-time All-Star his 11th straight start in net Saturday. "(The Maple Leafs) played a really strong game, they had a lot of scoring chances, but our goaltender was the best player on the ice."

The Canucks have scored a total of nine times in their last four games, but have won three of those contests thanks to Luongo's 1.51 goals-against average in that span. Luongo, who was 2-4-0 with a 3.88 GAA in his first six starts, has been at his best at GM Place, posting a 1.47 GAA while winning his last four outings there.

"I've been feeling pretty good the last couple of weeks here," said Luongo, who is 6-2-1 with a 1.98 GAA and one shutout in nine career starts against the Oilers in Vancouver.

Luongo, though, came up just short in Monday's 2-1 loss at Edmonton (6-3-1). He finished with 27 saves, but the Vancouver offense struggled against the Oilers' Nikolai Khabibulin, who stopped a season-high 39 shots.

Khabibulin and his team will now try to get back on track after a rough outing in Saturday's 5-2 loss at Calgary, snapping Edmonton's three-game winning streak.

The Flames controlled the puck for much of the night and fired 38 shots on Khabibulin, who had recorded a 2.34 GAA during the winning streak. Calgary scored three goals in a 6 1/2-minute span of the second period.

While the Oilers endured several defensive breakdowns, the offense also failed to get in gear after scoring 13 goals in the previous three wins.

"We were ready to play physically and we were OK in that department, but we didn't play hockey - not the way we had to play," Edmonton coach Pat Quinn said.

Lubomir Visnovsky scored his third goal of the season for the Oilers, while Dustin Penner netted his team-leading eighth.

Penner has six goals and six assists in his last six games, but was held without a point against the Canucks on Monday.