When the dust settled at Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota, the Edmonton Oilers managed to come out with a 4-3 shoot-out victory over the Wild, yet sadly at the expense of losing three defensemen due to injuries.
Ladislav Smid (shoulder), Taylor Chorney (knee) and Taylor Fedun all ended the their nights with injuries, though it was Fedun who suffered the most when he crashed into boards and broke his leg. Fedun becomes yet another victim of the no-touch-icing rule, and to add insult to injury, Wild's forward Eric Nystrom received a measly 5 minute penalty for boarding. The extent of Fedun's injury is a complex fracture on his right femur, and the injury(ies) couldn't come at a worst time for the Oilers who now have to scramble to fill 3 spots on the back end in time for opening night.
"There should be more to the penalty than what was there, but the referees called it exactly the way it should have been called. If you are going to give majors and whatnot for guys who carry their sticks high and don't control their sticks at head level, on an icing play like that when you have your stick in somone's feet, regardless you are going for the puck, that is a very, very dangerous play and the young fellow probably lost his season because of it." said Tom Renney.
Despite the injury, Renney and his players could see a lot of potential oozing from Fedun. The bench boss could only show his praise for the young man's play as of late.
"(Fedun) is a fine young man, he's very intelligent and navigates the game well. We're still excited about him as a player."
Anton Lander was the hero of the night when he buried his shoot-out goal going backhand top-shelf Backstrom during regulation time. With the game tied at 3 piece, the game went into a shoot out and again it was Lander for the win. Also chipping in for the Oilers it was Linus Omark who had a goal and also gave an apple to Ryan Jones to help tie the game and force a shoot-out.
The Edmonton Oilers will now face the Vacouver Canucks at Rogers Arena tonight at 7pm Pacific time.
Drawing in for the Oilers is Burnaby's, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who will get to play in front of his hometown friends and family for the first time in his young NHL career.
While it is still early to determine what the line combinations will be for both teams, it's almost safe to say that Jordan Eberle, RNH, Taylor Hall, Gilbert Brule and Shawn Horcoff will also suit up against what is rumored to be a veteran heavy line-up for the Canucks.
Oilers vs Canucks 7pm on CBC (FINALLY SOME HOCKEY ON TV IN BC!)
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