Penner, Brule shine as Oilers roll over Wild
Last Updated: Saturday, October 17, 2009 | 2:43 AM ET
CBC Sports
Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin stayed solid, Dustin Penner continued his torrid start, and it added up to another Edmonton Oilers victory.
The Oilers defeated the visiting Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Friday, with Penner and Gilbert Brule scoring two goals each.
Penner now has six points in his last three games, including a team-leading five goals.
"My linemates made some really nice passes to me," he said. "I think the whole team is playing with confidence offensively. We just need to work on some of our systems play."
Edmonton won despite being badly out-shot for the second straight game. Khabibulin was solid again in net for the Oilers, stopping 29 Minnesota attempts. Backup netminder Josh Harding saw 19 shots and made 14 saves for the Wild.
Mike Comrie scored the other goal for Edmonton, while Benoit Pouliot and Andrew Brunette replied for the Wild.
The victory piled on more misery for Minnesota (1-5-0), as it lost its fourth straight game. The Wild are still winless on the road this season (0-5-0).
"I don't think this trip could have gone any worse at this point," said Wild goalie Josh Harding. "It's disappointing battling back and letting up another one. We have to find a way to win and right now we just keep finding ways to lose."
The surprising Oilers (4-2-1) have now won three of their last four games and recovered well after losing 4-3 on the road to Chicago on Wednesday, a game in which they were out-shot 38-19.
Oilers head coach Pat Quinn raved about Penner and Brule after the game. The two have combined for nine of Edmonton's 28 goals this season.
"[Penner] is big and strong and holding the puck well," Quinn said. "He's got a good skill level, he's not just a big man. He gave some good second efforts tonight. He is doing lots of little things really well.
"[Brule] competes hard and he is really sharp around the net. We need to see that regularly on a consistent basis from him and we have to this point."
The Wild's Martin Havlat missed the game, and is day-to-day with a groin injury.
The Oilers hit two posts in a mostly defensive first period, as Patrick O'Sullivan missed on a backhand and Brule hit iron on a redirection, but the game remained scoreless after the first 20 minutes.
Comrie breaks through
Comrie would hit the net, though, at 1:49 of the second to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. The 29-year-old played a give-and-go with Robert Nilsson in the Wild slot and put a shot up and over Harding for his third of the season.
Penner would make it 2-0 Oilers thanks to some hard work by O'Sullivan.
The five-foot-11 forward managed to knock six-foot-eight Minnesota enforcer Derek Boogaard off the puck in the Wild zone, and circled around behind the net.
O'Sullivan then found Penner with a cross-crease pass that the winger slotted into the net.
Minnesota cut the lead in half at 16:41 of the second, when Pouliot banged in a rebound off an Eric Belanger slapshot for his first goal of the year.
Edmonton restored its two-goal lead in the final minute of the second thanks to some sloppy rebound control by Harding. He mishandled a shot by Ryan Stone, and Brule pounced on the rebound to make it 3-1 Oilers after two periods of play.
The home team led after two periods despite being out-shot 20-10 by the Wild.
Penalty trouble early in the third cost Edmonton a goal. With Shawn Horcoff in the box for holding, Brunette scored his fifth of the year for Minnesota when he banged in a loose puck in front of the net at 3:35, making the game close again.
The 36-year-old Brunette has three goals in his last four games against the Oilers.
Penner scored his second of the night to make it 4-2 Oilers at 11:58 of the third, deflecting a pass from Sam Gagner over Harding. Brule added his second of the game at 13:49.
With files from The Canadian Press
