Raffi Torres scored on an overtime power play Saturday night to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in the final NHL pre-season game for both teams.
The Oilers enjoyed a 4-on-3 advantage after Vancouver winger Matt Cooke took a costly double minor at the end of the third period.
Torres was alone when he took a centring pass from Shawn Horcoff and had an open net to easily beat Vancouver netminder Wade Flaherty.
All Edmonton goals came with the man advantage. Joffrey Lupul and Ryan Smyth got the other goals for the Oilers while Daniel Sedin scored twice for Vancouver.
Both clubs' lineups were close to those that will take to the ice when the regular season begins.
The victory improved the Western Conference champions' record to 6-2 while the Canucks, who finished a point behind Edmonton and out of the playoffs last season, slipped to 2-5-1.
Daniel Sedin, who is leading the Canucks with five goals in five pre-season contests, gave Vancouver a 2-2 tie entering the third period with his second goal of the game.
Markus Naslund, reunited again with the twins on the top line, passed to Henrik Sedin after falling to the ice. Henrik tipped the puck to Daniel who beat goalie Dwayne Roloson with a high shot.
The trio combined earlier in the period to end a Canuck power-play drought when Daniel went to the net to tap in Henrik's cross-crease pass.
The goal came on Vancouver's third power play after the Canucks were 0-for-9 Friday against Calgary.
Smyth gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead with Edmonton's second power-play goal. He tipped Petr Sykora's point shot behind Flaherty after good puck movement in the Canuck zone.
Lupul, obtained from Anaheim in the trade that sent star defenceman Chris Pronger to the Ducks, scored his third goal in as many games in the first period.
Smyth recovered Sykora's rebound and made a perfect pass from behind the net to Lupul who was alone in front of Flaherty.
Both teams hit goalposts in the opening 20 minutes. Naslund blasted Henrik Sedin's pass off the Oiler post while Sykora grazed the Vancouver goalpost.
Flaherty, seeking to back up Roberto Luongo at age 38, had a better start Saturday after being torched for five goals on 15 shots in a 40-minute outing Wednesday in Edmonton.
He went down to stop Shawn Horcoff on a break-in, kicked out a labelled Sykora shot and stacked the pads to foil Jarret Stoll on his doorstep.
He also stoned speedy Ethan Moreau twice on third-period breakaways while the Canucks were on the power play.
NOTES: The Canucks open their season Thursday in Detroit while the Oilers play host to the Calgary Flames ... Edmonton beat Vancouver 5-4 on Wednesday ... Fernando Pisani and Matt Greene were kept out of the Oilers' lineup for what the club called precautionary measures but both are expected to practice on Monday.
