Vancouver 5 Edmonton 3
VANCOUVER — Andrew Ebbett scored two goals as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 in a Boxing Day clash Monday.
Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows, and Ryan Kesler also scored for Vancouver (22-12-4), which posted its thirteenth win in 17 games and moved ahead of Minnesota to lead the Northwest Division.
Jordan Eberle, Ryan Smyth and Corey Potter replied for the Oilers, who dropped to 15-17-3 as they suffered their seventh loss in 10 games.
Smyth’s and Potter’s goals came during the same five-minute power play.
Vancouver outshot the Oilers 26-21 overall and dominated a weary-looking Edmonton team in the first period, limiting the Oilers to only two shots in the first 14 and a half minutes.
Ebbett opened the scoring 3:11 into the game as a Chris Higgins shot went in off his skate while he was standing beside the net.
Daniel Sedin put the Canucks ahead 2-0 about five minutes later as he converted a pass from twin brother Henrik. Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin protested the call, because Daniel Sedin ran a pick on Edmonton’s Lennart Petrell, tripping him up before scooting across the net and scoring.
Ebbett notched his second of the night eight and a half minutes later as he dove to bang in Jannik Hansen’s pass on a 2-on-1. The Canucks outshot the Oilers by a whopping 13-5 margin in the first.
Vancouver’s Dale Weise was ejected at 8:28 of the second period after he sent Alex Plante face-first into the glass. Weise received a charging major and game misconduct. Plante lay on the ice for a few minutes and was guided to the dressing room with a towel covering a cut on his face. He did not return.
Eberle scored on the ensuing power play as he put in his own rebound to give him a team-leading 16 goals this season.
With the Canucks still shorthanded, Burrows scored on a give-and-go with Ryan Kesler 46 seconds later to put the Canucks ahead 4-1. It was Burrows’ 15th career short-handed goal.
But, with the same power play still in effect, Smyth put in his own rebound off the post 32 seconds later.
Kesler gave the Canucks a 5-2 lead at 3:14 of the third period, but Potter countered less than two minutes later to round out the scoring.
It was the first two-goal game of Ebbett’s career. He played only his third game after sitting out 18 straight contests with a fractured foot suffered while blocking a shot Nov. 10 in Los Angeles.
He now has three goals on the season, exceeding the two he scored last season for Phoenix while splitting the campaign with the Coyotes and their AHL farm club in San Antonio.
Notes: Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo sported a new mask bearing a compilation of the original Canucks logo. The design was based on a mask worn by former Canucks vagabond goalie Curt Ridley, who played for the team from 1975-76 to 1979-80. The design was done by F.X. Allaire, the son of goaltending guru Francoise Allaire. Luongo plans to wear it when the Canucks don their vintage third jerseys. ... Canucks D Keith Ballard returned to the lineup after sitting out two games with back spasms and a third for precautionary reasons. D Alexander Sulzer was scratched. ... Edmonton was missing injured D Ryan Whitney (ankle) and winger Ales Hemsky (sinus and dizziness.)