Canucks 4, Oilers 1

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VANCOUVER, BC (AP) - You could almost smell the smoke billowing out of Northern Alberta Saturday night as the Edmonton faithful burned effigies of the Sedin Twins.

The Canucks dumped the Oilers for a seventh consecutive time, and once again, The Twins played a major role. Hank set up brother Daniel for two goals 2:18 apart in the second period to break open a close game and help the Canucks beat the Oilers 4-1. Henrik added his third assist on Taylor Pyatt's goal in the third period, and Brendan Morrison also scored for the Canucks, who won 5-2 in Edmonton on Friday.

“As a team, we didn’t give them a lot of chances and we had a good power play and a good PK,” said Daniel. “So it was good to see.”

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Andrew Cogliano's short-handed goal broke up Roberto Luongo's shutout with 7:39 left. It was too late for the Oilers, who have lost four straight since starting the season with two wins.

Vancouver has outscored the Oilers 30-12 since the Canucks last loss on Dec. 4, 2006. The Sedins have combined for 31 points in their last 10 games against Edmonton. They were at it again in the second period Saturday, scoring goals just over two minutes apart. The Twins helped pin Edmonton in its own end for an entire two-minute power play that included Mattias Ohlund hitting the post, but didn't score until 15 seconds after it ended. Henrik passed from the left boards to his brother, who fired a wrist shot just past Dwayne Roloson's blocker.

“As long as you have the puck, you won’t get tired,” said Daniel. “I wouldn’t want to be on the PK side though.”

Daniel scored again on another power play, taking a drop pass from his brother, walking out of the corner and waiting until Roloson was down and out, before snapping a shot into an empty net.

Roloson and the Oilers protested over the apparent interference as Canucks captain Markus Naslund wound up on top of the Edmonton keeper, but replays showed Roloson was already on the ice when Naslund backed into him. Roloson, who celebrated his 38th birthday Friday with a relief appearance after Mathieu Garon was pulled early in the second period, finished with 18 saves.

3 STARS

Daniel Sedin Scored two goals on two shots, including a power-play goal. Finished the night with a +2 rating.

Henrik Sedin Assisted on three of the four Canuck goals and was 60% in the faceoff circle.

Markus Naslund Two assists on the night and 19:12 TOI.

It was the first home win in three games for the Canucks. They lost the first two by a combined score of 11-3.

“We’re just a little smarter with the puck,” said Morrison, who’s scored goals in back-to-back games. “We’re helping each other, [giving] more support, executing, being sharp, winning battles - what ever reasons, we’re more comfortable. It’s coming along.”

As encouraging as the scoring has been – the Canucks have run up nine goals in their past two games – it’s the defence that’s impressed Alain Vigneault most.

“I think we’re on the right track here,” he said. “We’re getting better.”

“We got some really solid goaltending from Roberto. It seems when guys make a mistake or we don’t get a bounce on a break out or something, he’s able to cover it up and make that key save at the right moment. So obviously that’s a huge part of our defensive awareness.”

Luongo finished with 27 saves to record his third win of the year, but his best stops came on a puck that deflected dangerously off his own defenseman early in the second. He also snagged Cogliano's hard wrist shot from the slot with the game still 1-0 a few minutes later.

“It was a great game,” said Luongo. “It’s the type of hockey we’re looking to play the last two nights… so we got to make sure we give the same effort and keep going.”

“[The Oilers] were throwing the puck at the net and were trying a lot of shots from sharp angles, so it was important that I maintained good position on my post.  Luckily, there were no rebounds or anything like that, and I was able to make the saves.”

Jeff Cowan left the game with a hip flexor after dropping the gloves with Edmonton heavyweight Zack Stortini just five seconds into the game.

“He got in that fight right off the bat, fell down, and [suffered] a hip flexor injury,” said Vigneault. “I’ve never heard of a guy getting a hip flexor off a fight, but anything’s possible I guess.”

Matt Cooke was a healthy scratch. Mason Raymond was a minus-one with one shot in just under eight minutes of ice time.