It's probably safe to say that Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo has found his stride again. That groaning sound you hear is coming from snipers across the NHL.

Luongo nabbed his first shutout of the season on Sunday, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-0 at GM Place.

"Our goaltender has been our best player the last two games so we're feeding off him a little bit," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said.

Michael Grabner scored a power play goal to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead in the first period, and Henrik Sedin added a goal in the second. Grabner, a 22-year-old rookie who was inserted into the lineup when Daniel Sedin broke his foot, now has five points in his first six NHL games.

"There's not as much pressure and it's easier to play now and just try to show them what I can do," Grabner said.

Unlike Saturday's 3-1 win over Toronto, the Canucks netminder didn't have to stand on his head to nab the victory, as Luongo was helped by some solid Vancouver team defence.

"We're really starting to play well systems-wise and defensively," Luongo said. "It makes my job a lot easier and I am able to focus on the shooter more and just challenge him and not worry about any of the backdoor stuff."

After a shaky opening five minutes, the Canucks limited the Oilers' scoring chances, and when Edmonton did press, Luongo was there to make the big save.

Luongo gave up three goals or more in five of the first six games Vancouver played this season. The Canucks went 2-5-0 in that span.

But since then, Luongo and the Canucks have held the opposition to two goals or less and are winners of four of their last five.

His resurgence is a welcome sight for a Vancouver team that is decimated by injuries.

"Sometimes you need to be challenged a little bit to step up as a team and I think we've done that," said Luongo. "It seems like we're losing a player every game right now, but guys are coming in, doing a great job and buying into the system and that's why we're winning games."

The Canucks have lost six starters recently, including the aforementioned top scorer Daniel Sedin, winger Pavol Demitra, and top defenceman Sami Salo.

This latest victory brings Vancouver (6-5-0) above the .500 mark for the first time this season.

The Oilers (6-4-1) were hoping to bounce back from a tough loss to Calgary on Saturday. Instead, they were held scoreless for the first time this season. Edmonton has now lost two in a row after going on a three-game winning streak.

"The past two days haven't been pretty," Oilers coach Pat Quinn said. "I don't like the result for sure. It was kind of a sleeper game … we didn't play good enough to get a good result."

The shutout Sunday was Luongo's 21st as a Canuck, moving him past Kirk McLean as the all-time franchise leader in that category. Luongo has 48 career shutouts.

Edmonton backup goalie Jeff Deslauriers gave Nikolai Khabibulin the night off, and stopped 27 of 29 shots. The Oilers fired 27 shots Luongo's way.

The Canucks had a shaky start to the game and looked like they were in trouble when they gave the Oilers a two-man advantage seven minutes into the game.

But the Oilers failed to capitalize as Luongo slammed the door, and the Canucks made them pay by opening the scoring at 17:51 of the first period.

Grabner scored his second of the season by redirecting a point shot from Christian Ehrhoff through Deslauriers's legs, giving the Canucks a 1-0 lead.

On the ensuing faceoff, Edmonton's Zack Stortini and Vancouver's Darcy Hordichuk squared off in a spirited tussle, which left Stortini with a bloody nose.

The Canucks made it 2-0 on a seemingly harmless shot from the blue-line at 9:21. Mikael Samuelsson fired the puck in on Deslauriers during a Vancouver line change, and a keen-eyed Sedin deflected the puck into the net for his fourth goal of the season.

The Oilers' best chance to tie the game came on a four-minute power play in the third period, when Grabner was sent to the Vancouver penalty box for high-sticking Lubomir Visnovsky.

But Luongo and the Canucks held the fort, giving Vancouver its third straight victory.

Mike Comrie was still out of the Edmonton lineup because of the flu, which has hit the Oilers hard in the past few days.

Kyle Wellwood missed the game for Vancouver. He took a shot off his right foot and broke his big toe during the win against the Leafs.

The Canucks host Detroit in their next game, while the Oilers host Colorado. Both games are on Tuesday.

With files from The Associated Press