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Drouin-Deslauriers, Hemsky lift Oilers past Rangers

Nov 11, 2008 - 4:14 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The Edmonton Oilers have not had a chance to settle in at home. Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers' recent performances ensured it will be a somewhat satisfying return.

The rookie stopped all three shots in the shootout and Ales Hemsky scored in the second round as the Oilers concluded a season-high seven-game road trip with a 3-2 triumph over the New York Rangers on Monday.

Erik Cole and Kyle Brodziak scored in regulation for Edmonton, which won its first shootout of the season. The Oilers were 15-4 in the bonus format in 2007-08.

Edmonton also improved to 26-16 all-time in the shootout when Hemsky's shot trickled off Henrik Lundqvist's arm. Drouin-Deslauriers made it stand by making a tremendous glove save on Markus Naslund.

"Just making the save, knowing the game was done," Drouin-Deslauriers said. "It was a really great feeling."

Defenseman Paul Mara netted his first goal in 66 games, captain Chris Drury also tallied and Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 29 shots for New York, which is 1-3-1 in its last five games.

"It slid on the glove and I thought I had it," Lundqvist said of Hemsky's tally. "I tried to locate the puck and I saw it went in behind me. It is a little frustrating to let that one in.

The Oilers concluded their ninth road trip of at least seven games by winning four of seven (4-3-0). They concluded it with consecutive victories in New Jersey and New York while also defeating Philadelphia and Carolina.

Drouin-Deslauriers helped the Oilers get four of their eight points on this trek. He turned in a 37-save performance Sunday in New Jersey and then withstood a 20-shot barrage in the second, allowing just goal by Mara midway through the period.

The goaltender earned his third career victory as he made key stops on Nikolai Zherdev and Brandon Dubinsky. He nearly gave up the lead with two minutes in the second after Ryan Callahan's shot tried to inch past the goal line, but Drouin-Deslauriers reached back to grab right before it went past the line.

"I just saw the puck stop," Drouin-Deslauriers said. "I looked back and the puck was going toward me."

If that was not challenging enough for the 24-year-old, he had to start the third by killing off a Rangers' power play. He allowed Drury to score off a rebound of a Scott Gomez slap shot just 46 seconds into the third but finished with 40 saves.

Drury's clutch goal and the play of Lundqvist enabled the Rangers to get at least a point, but it still meant they had overcome a stretch of sub-par play.

"When you lose a game, I don't think you necessarily say you played your best," Dubinsky said. "It was a tough first period. We found a way to get ourselves back in the game and put a lot of pressure on them.

While the Rangers were able to rally, the night belonged to Drouin-Deslauriers, who could not have been sent back to the minors unless he cleared waivers during the preseason, forcing the Oilers to keep three goalies on the active roster.

"I thought he just (played) a workman-like game," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. "He's a big guy and he doesn't venture to far away from the net unless he's handling the puck. He was just in the right spot and made a 40-save performance look pretty pedestrian."

"He's playing well," Oilers defenseman Sheldon Souray added. "That's what you need, you need your goalies to play well and we've had some games where the goalies have played really well - but our game hasn't been what it should be in front of our goalies. Tonight, we played pretty well and last night we played pretty well and he's making big saves. When you get that combination, you're bound to get results."

The performance by the former second-round pick improved the Oilers to 8-6-1, which for them is encouraging considering 12 of the first 15 contests have been on the road and they have not been in Edmonton in two weeks.

"We knew it was going to be a unique situation playing this many games on the road to start off the season," Oilers defenseman Steve Staios said. "You always look back at one or two that you may want to get, but overall I think we played some good hockey."

Cole had Edmonton's other first-period tally on this trip and he struck again when his left skate tipped Fernando Pisani's centering pass through the crease past Lundqvist. The play started when Shawn Horcoff forced a turnover by Scott Gomez in the neutral zone and Cole ended it by getting his third goal as a member of the Oilers.

Brodziak's goal came moments after Souray hit the outside of the net. The Rangers were unable to clear and the puck went to defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, whose blast from the left point was deflected by Brodziak past Lundqvist just 3:30 into the period.

The Rangers made it a one-goal contest just over 4 1/2 minutes later when Callahan centered the puck for Mara, who put a quick wrist shot from the left circle in for his first goal since November 6, 2007.