Vancouver Canucks lose to Edmonton Oilers and continue Championship Struggles

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish had a simple explanation for the Oilers' 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. "It was the first game all year where I can say that everybody played well," MacTavish said. "It was the first real complete 60-minute game we have played all year. Normally, there have been patches of the game where there are some poor performances, but everybody did their job tonight. That was the first sign of a complete game by everyone this year. It was an important game for us."

Dwayne Roloson made 23 saves for his first shutout in two seasons and 23rd in 11 NHL seasons.
"It was important to get a win like this, especially in our own building where we haven't played our best hockey," Roloson said. "Tonight was probably one of our best games of the year. We played unbelievable."

Dustin Penner, Ales Hemsky and Robert Nilsson scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have won four of their last five games to improve to 14-12-2 on the NHL season, and 1-1 in Canadian Championship play. The Canucks have now fallen to 1-3 in the Championships. The Ottawa Senators begin their Championship schedule in Calgary on December 27th, and continue with their western swing before the New Year.