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  Saturday, Oct. 16 8:00pm ET
Cleary makes life dreary for Kings
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- Daniel Cleary has come a long way from a Newfoundland village with no stop signs.

Cleary scored two goals in his first game with the Edmonton to lift the Oilers to a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.

"It's the happiest I've been in a long time," said the 20-year-old Cleary. "I'm dumbfounded."

The left wing left his home town of Riverhead, 45 minutes west of St. John's, as a 14-year-old to play Junior B with the Kingston (Ontario) Voyageurs.

"There are 200 people and no stop signs," Cleary said. "There's nothing much there but good people."

He was informed that there is a large population of ex-Newfoundlanders in Fort McMurray, Alberta, about 280 miles north of Edmonton.

"I'm sure everybody roots for their kind," Cleary said. "By any means, any Newfie is a friend of mine. I'll welcome them with open arms."

He admitted his performance was something "I've always dreamed of."

Cleary worked behind the net, came out in front and shot high on goalie Stephane Fiset's glove side for his first goal, at 8:17 of the third period, giving the Oilers a 4-2 lead.

"I just went around the net," he said. "(Assistant coach) Teddy Green told me all week to shoot it."

After Rob Blake cut the deficit to 4-3 at 11:27 on a power play -- the Kings' ninth power-play goal in 27 chances this season -- Cleary pounced on his own rebound to score at 13:42 and restore the two-goal margin.

Coach Kevin Lowe applauded the performance.

"He went to the net," Lowe said. "That's the way goals are scored. He knows where the net is."

Cleary was sent to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL as one of the Oilers' last cuts. He was recalled Thursday.

"He took the demotion in stride," Lowe said.

Ryan Smyth, Alex Selivanov and Tom Poti also scored for the Oilers (2-2-2-1).

Glen Murray scored his first three goals of the season for the Kings, who finished a seven-game road trip to open the season 4-2-1-0.

"I'm not very happy with our play," said Los Angeles coach Andy Murray. "I'm not satisfied at all."

The Oilers outshot the Kings 15-3 in the second period and 32-29 overall.

"We didn't play desperate in the second period," Murray said. "We played desperate in the third. You can't let them take the momentum to you like that.

"We don't normally give up that many scoring chances in a game. We were patsies tonight. We got outworked."

Murray did praise the Oilers for their effort.

"I was impressed with the way the Oilers responded in the second period," he said.

 


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