Devan Dubynk couldn't have picked a better night to get sick.

His backup in the Oilers' crease, Jeff Deslauriers, was stellar while Roberto Luongo had a rough night, as last-place Edmonton continued to play spoiler and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Tuesday at Rexall Place for the team's third straight win.

Dubynk, who won the first two games of his NHL career in his last two starts, came down with a contagious flu that kept him away from the arena, forcing Deslauriers, 25, into the net.

The goalie from St. Jean-Richelieu, Que., didn't disappoint.

The Canucks outshot Edmonton 33-22 and Deslauriers came up especially big in the third period, robbing Kyle Wellwood twice as the Vancouver forward had great chances to tie the game.

"He was really sharp tonight and confident and in mental control," Oilers coach Pat Quinn said. "Our guys battled hard all night long and I like how they played around him. But he was good all night long. He was our best player."

The first chance saw the Canucks forward in close with Deslauriers down and out eight minutes into the third, but the Oiler goalie managed to snatch his shot out of the air with his glove.

With two minutes left in the game Deslauriers made his second big stop on Wellwood, taking away what would've been one of the goals of the season. Wellwood deftly stickhandled through the entire Edmonton defence but not Deslauriers — his backhand was met by the goalie's outstretched right leg.

At the other end of the ice, all three goals on Luongo could be considered shaky.

Cracks in the armour

On the Oilers' first shot on net, Tom Gilbert fired one from a bad angle along the ice that sneaked through the Canucks goalie's legs for a 1-0 Edmonton lead at 3:02 of the opening period.

Robert Nilsson found another chink in Luongo's armour at 6:58, fooling him with a short-side shot for his 11th of the season.

A frustrated Luongo looked up at the rafters after he surrendered another stinker at 8:01 of the second, when Andrew Cogliano fired a soft shot along the ice that went through his legs to make the score 3-1.

"He was struggling," Cogliano said. "He struggled early in the first and I just threw it at the net and it somehow found its way in. He's one of the top goalies in the league and that's not going to happen often, but when it does, you take them and run."

After surrendering the three goals on the first 10 shots he faced, Luongo played solidly in the latter half of the game while the Canucks pressed for the equalizer.

"I made some good saves but unfortunately I should have had all three of their goals," he said. "I've got to find some consistency in my game. It was a bad game every 12 games or so but now it is every two or three games. I have to get my swagger back."

Daniel Sedin tried to rally the troops with his 200th career goal, firing one home after getting a pass from (surprise, surprise) brother Henrik at 16:12 of the second to make the score 3-2. But the Canucks couldn't solve Deslauriers after that.

Mason Raymond netted the other Canucks' tally.

Vancouver remains five points ahead of the idle Colorado Avalanche for the Pacific Division lead. The Canucks have nine games left, while the Avs have 10.

With Dubynk ailing Edmonton had no backup netminder to turn to, and was considering dressing its goaltending coach or possibly Shannon Szabados from Canada's Olympic champion women's team, before calling in University of Calgary third-string goaltender Nathan Deobald to spot Deslauriers.

Vancouver hosts Anaheim on Wednesday, while the Oilers gets their shot at the Ducks on Friday.

With files from The Canadian Press