Edmonton brush aside helpless Anaheim

The Edmonton Oilers took a one game lead over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the first game of the Western Conference finals.
It was early in the first period when Anaheim scored the first goal. It began when Edmonton managed to break through the Anaheim defence, when Steve Rolson managed to intercept the puck, and clear it deep down the ice. Michael Peca read the pass well, and drilled it home to give the Mighty Ducks an early one-goal lead. The lead however, didn?t last very long. Ales Hemsky scored the equalising goal, which made it all even as the first period came to a close.

The second period was definitely quieter than the first period. Neither of the two teams could break through each other?s defences. It wasn?t until the dying seconds that Edmonton took the lead. The goal was scored by Todd Harvey, who did well to force goaltender out of his net, to leave it wide open for him, as he taped in the puck to give them the lead at the end of the second.

As both teams entered the final period of play, Anaheim were determined they were not in the playoffs because of a fluke. Anaheim really tried to break the Oilers tight defence, but they couldn?t break through. They were given a golden opportunity though when Chris Pronger was sin binned for elbowing. However, the Oilers created a superb play with a man down, when Peza broke away, one on one with Anaheim goal tender Ilya Bryzgalov, and scored a perfect backhander, to win the game for Edmonton.

After the game, Rolson was asked about his fabulous goal. He said: ?I used to do that in college all the time?. His teammate, Peza, said that he realised he had to turn up the speed. ?It?s not something you practice, but you know he has the ability to get into the centre of the ice,? Peza said. ?We had never connected on it, he knows I am going to look for that ice and I know he?s going to try and get the puck in that spot if he has the time to do it.?

The Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said: ?Their goaltender is strong on his backhand, and we didn?t read the situation properly when we allowed Peza to get in behind us, I guess it caught us by surprise.?

Author: Eric Wood
Rochdale iJourno Sports group