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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The Edmonton Oilers are going
to the playoffs thanks to a three-goal rally in the third period,
some unlikely heroes, and a desperate opponent.
|  | | Vancouver goalie Felix Potvin made 26 saves but was pulled for an extra attacker in overtime. |
Rem Murray's empty-net goal with 59 seconds left in overtime
lifted Edmonton to a 5-4 victory over Vancouver on Friday night,
giving the Oilers the final Western Conference playoff berth and
wiping out the Canucks' postseason hopes.
"This was our season," Edmonton captain Doug Weight said.
"It's an amazing feeling to beat the Canucks. They've been hot and
they are confident. For us to come in here and secure a playoff
spot when their lives are on the line, too, is a pretty great
feeling."
Bill Guerin, Todd Marchant and Murray all picked the perfect
time to end scoring droughts for the Oilers, whose win also ended
the Anaheim Mighty Ducks' bid for a playoff berth.
Murray's goal, his third in 24 games, capped a wild finish that
saw Edmonton rally from a 3-1 third-period deficit and then win
when Vancouver -- which had to have a victory to stay in contention
for the playoffs -- pulled goalie Felix Potvin with 2:06 left in overtime.
"We had that game. I just don't know what happened,"
Vancouver's Brad May said. "We had it in our favor until 10 minutes to go."
Weight and Marchant scored 57 seconds apart for Edmonton in the
third period. Marchant, who hadn't scored in 12 games, appeared to
have resolved the game when he knocked a loose puck past Potvin
with 4:12 left to give Edmonton a 4-3 lead.
But it wasn't over yet.
Vancouver's Andrew Cassels scored with 10.7 seconds left to send
it to overtime 4-4. Cassels put Markus Naslund's rebound in with
Vancouver on a power play and Potvin removed for an extra attacker.
Guerin's second goal in 18 games, on a power play with 8:52
left, started Edmonton's rally from a 3-1 deficit. Weight then tied
the score six minutes later with his 20th goal.
"We were flat until Billy G. stepped up and scored a beautiful
goal with a great shot," Weight said. "That really seemed to get
our bench going and we started believing and we started getting
some great chances."
Goals by Mark Messier, Harold Druken and Denis Pederson put
Vancouver up 3-1 heading into the final period, but the Oilers
outshot their hosts 13-4 during the rest of regulation.
Messier tied it 1-1 at 10:47 of the first with his second goal
in as many games and the 627th of his career, moved him into a tie
with Detroit's Steve Yzerman for sixth on the NHL's scoring list.
"We've been playing for quite a long time without a margin for
error and it finally caught up with us," Messier said. "Everybody
is really disappointed right now. We really had our hearts set on
the postseason."
His goal got a near-sellout crowd of 18,422 back into the game
and energized the Canucks, who closed the first period by
outshooting the Oilers 10-3.
Harold Druken broke the tie and a 0-for-16 Vancouver power-play
streak when he beat Tommy Salo from a bad angle with 59 seconds
left in the first period. Vancouver didn't manage a shot for the
first 12:56 of the second period, but moved ahead 3-1 when Denis
Pederson scored his third goal in three games with 1:41 left in the
period.
Roman Hamrlik opened the scoring for Edmonton at 6:14 of the
first period.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Edmonton Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
RECAPS
Pittsburgh 2
Buffalo 1
Washington 4
Detroit 2
Toronto 2
NY Islanders 1
Chicago 4
St. Louis 3
Anaheim 5
Nashville 1
Colorado 3
Calgary 1
San Jose 3
Phoenix 1
Edmonton 5
Vancouver 4
Los Angeles 3
Dallas 2
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