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Oilers overcome Huselius hat trick, down Blue Jackets

Dec 17, 2010 - 8:11 AM Edmonton, AB (Sports Network) - Jordan Eberle notched two goals and Linus Omark posted a goal and two assists as Edmonton downed Columbus, 6-3, at Rexall Place.

Sam Gagner and Magnus Paajarvi each had a goal and an assist for Edmonton, which snapped a two game losing streak. Dustin Penner chipped in with a goal, while Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 37-of-40 shots in the win.

"He's the reason why he keeps us in games or why we win on most of the nights," Eberle said of Khabibulin. "He's very steady back there. We have so much confidence in him, we expect him to make a save, we almost know it's going to be a save so it helps when you've got someone back there like that."

Kristian Huselius recorded his second career hat trick for the Blue Jackets, who finished a western Canada road trip 0-1-2 and never held the lead during the three games.

Steve Mason stopped just 21-of-27 shots before getting pulled at the start of the third. Mathieu Garon stopped all nine shots he faced in the final 20 minutes.

"Every player has got their off-nights," Columbus center Derick Brassard said of Mason's tough outing. "We could have helped him better in the first by scoring more goals, but we didn't bury our chances. But he will bounce back. He's a great goaltender; right now we just have to help him out."

The two teams traded goals during the first period, with the home team holding a 3-2 advantage through the first 20 minutes.

Omark started the volley only four minutes into the contest with a sharp wrister that sailed past Mason.

Huselius, though, tied the game at the 5:32 mark. The goal was set up by an Oilers defensive zone turnover and Rostislav Klesla ripped a shot from left point. Huselius then picked up the rebound and sent a backhander into the open net.

Edmonton regained the lead at 11:25 on Eberle's first goal of the game and more than four minutes later, Huselius scored on the power play for his second goal of the game.

During the final 30 seconds of the high-scoring first period, Penner notched a goal on wrist shot from the slot for a 3-2 home team advantage. The goal was set up by a smooth no-look, between-the-legs pass from Omark.

Penner's score started a four-goal streak for the Oilers with the last three coming in the second period. Eberle tipped in his second goal of the game just over 3 1/2 minutes into the middle stanza.

Paajarvi's quick wrist shot made it a 5-2 game and Gagner's goal put the home team up by four when he scored with 4:48 left to play in the period.

Huselius added a goal in the final 1:07 to complete his hat trick.

Game Notes

Khabibulin improved to 9-8-4 with a tie versus Columbus...Mason has been pulled three times in his last four starts. During the span, he has given up eight goals on 44 shots...Eberle has four goals in the last three games...Taylor Hall had three assists and Ryan Whitney had two helpers for Edmonton. Whitney has 24 assists this season...R.J. Umberger tallied two assists in the loss to give him 14 on the year.