The Canucks win one for Torts
Posted January 21, 2014 10:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
EDMONTON, AB (NEWS1130) – The Canucks were without their suspended head coach John Tortorella, and injured captain Henrik Sedin, but that didn’t keep them from edging the Oilers 2-1 in Edmonton.
Vancouver entered the game having won eight of the previous 11 games between the two teams.
Zack Kassian’s second-period goal stood up as the game winner as the Canucks won their second in a row.
Rookie Kellan Lain opened the scoring for the Vancouver in the first period. It was his first NHL goal in just his second game. He had a smile post game. “I got my life long dream of playing in the NHL last game and then the next thing you think about is scoring that first goal. I mean, getting that tonight was just pretty special.”
Goalie Roberto Luongo made 28 saves for the win.
Jordan Eberle replied for the Oilers, who have lost five in a row and 10 of their last 12.
Mike Sullivan – acting as the Canucks head coach as Tortorella started his 15-day suspension for an altercation during a game against the Calgary Flames on Saturday – was pleased with the effort from the team, but stressed that it was only one win. “I think it was important to get that one and now we’ve got a few games at home and a chance to make some headway in the standings. So we’ll take this one game at a time and that’s what I told them this morning – let’s not look by this one, let’s make sure we’re focused and ready to play. I thought our guys for the most part did a pretty good job.”
The Canucks return to Rogers Arena to start a four-game homestand against Nashville on Thursday.
