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Daniel Sedin, second-period surge lifts Canucks past Oilers

Dec 18, 2008 - 7:24 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Daniel Sedin recorded a pair of goals as the Vancouver Canucks scored three times in the second period en route to a 4-2 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday in a battle of Northwest Division rivals.

Jannik Hansen had a goal and an assist, Ryan Kesler also tallied and Curtis Sanford finished with 22 saves for Vancouver, which retired Trevor Linden's No. 16 prior to contest.

"It was a special night for him, and for us too," Sedin said of Linden. "It was great to get two points that's for sure.

"We sat there for 45 minutes (during the ceremony) but guys were pumped up and it was an emotional night."

It was the second emotional pre-game ceremony for the Canucks this season. The team honored Luc Bourdon prior to their season-opening game against the Calgary Flames on October 9. The former Canucks defenseman was killed in a motorcycle accident in Lameque, New Brunswick on May 29. He was 21.

"The sense I got from looking at the players and talking to them quickly before the start of the game was I really think they were touched by the whole ceremony," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "That's the second one we've done this year and both of them have been outstanding.

"Two different types of ceremonies, but both have been very well done and obviously appreciated by the people that are receiving the honors and obviously appreciated by our fans and our players. It was a great night."

Dustin Penner and Sam Gagner each netted third-period tallies and Dwayne Roloson turned aside 24 shots for Edmonton, which fell to 1-3-0 in its last four games.

Sedin opened the scoring 74 seconds into the middle session - but in unconventional fashion.

Defenseman Alex Edler unleashed a shot on a two-man advantage that Roloson denied, but Steve Staios knocked Sedin into the netminder and jarred the puck loose. As he fell into the netminder, it was ruled that he touched the puck as it trickled into the net.

"I don't know. I have to look at the video," Roloson said. "When you're on your back and you don't know what's going on in front of you, it's pretty hard."

After Kesler doubled the advantage nearly 2 1/2 minutes later, Sedin netted his second of the contest and 14th of the season after one-timing a sharp-angled shot past Roloson.

"The first one, it looked like he had it," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said of Sedin's goals. "It was underneath him and we didn't get the whistle. Stevie drilled Sedin right over top of him and into him and it jarred the puck loose and into the back of the net it came.

"The second one was a strong side shot and it was a bad goal. The second one was a bad goal."

Penner put the Oilers on the board just 2:32 into the third period, and Gagner halved the deficit with 89 seconds remaining in the session, but Hansen sealed the win with an empty-net tally.

"It was a big game for us," Kesler said. "We wanted to avenge our (3-0 loss to Edmonton) a little bit from Saturday night. It was good to win for Trevor tonight. It was a hard fought win.

"Third period wasn't as good as we wanted to be, but at the same time, it's important we got the win."