Oilers Update - Oilers Avoid Avalanche - Cornet's First NHL Point.

Philippe Cornet

Last night the Edmonton Oilers skated to a 3-2 decision over the visiting Colorado Avalanche and the man who got things rolling was none other than #14.  Fresh from the All-Star festivities in Ottawa, Jordan Eberle continued with his scoring touch when he beat Av's goaltender Varlamov with a slick wrap-around.  Contributing with an assist to Eberle's 19th goal of the season was rookie Philippe Cornet.  The left-winger from OKC played his first every NHL game and within 5 minutes of his start, the 21 year-old recorded his NHL point.


"I felt pretty good out there for the first game." said Cornet.  "Playing with players like Eberle and Gagner helps.  "On that first goal, it was great work by Gagner on the cycle and it was great work by Eberle to finish it off.  It feels good, I wasn't expecting to have a point in my first game, but I'll take it for sure."


Tom Renney was more than happy with the rookies performance and admitted that he would've love to see what the 6'0" winger can do on the power-play.

"You want to give him a chance to play to where his instincts are," said Renny.  "He's a sniper and he's an offensive player, but he's responsible.  I certainly didn't have any fear of having him out there where he was.  I was actually hoping to get him some power-player time, but we scored and that was the location that he would have popped into..."I anticipate him playing again and we'll see how he does.



Also Scoring:

Late in the first frame Eric Belanger scored his second goal of the season.  The veteran centre who has been having a difficult season, buried a slap-shot on the power-play to make it 2-0 Oilers. Taylor Hall scored the winner in the third.  #4 pounced on a loose rebound from an Ales Hemsky shot to seal the victory for the Copper and Blue.

Injuries:  


Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Cam Barker were seen skating with the club and are expected to return perhaps by next week.


http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=386587


The Edmonton Oilers will take a break and await the Chicago Blackhawks this Thursday night at Rexall.