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Wednesday, Oct. 11 7:30pm ET
Salo records 33 saves in Oilers' victory | |||||
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BOX SCORE
DETROIT (AP) -- What is a strength for Edmonton is a weakness for Detroit. Speed. The Oilers skated past the Red Wings early and often en route to a 4-3 victory in Detroit's home opener Wednesday night. Bill Guerin scored two goals and Doug Weight had two assists. "We're playing our best when we're flying around, using our speed and playing aggressively," said Edmonton's Rem Murray, who scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the second period. "We were really disappointed with how flat we played Tuesday night against Montreal. We knew we had to use our speed and get the momentum because they had a packed house for their home opener." Tommy Salo stopped 33 shots for the Oilers, while Detroit's Chris Osgood made 21 saves. "They didn't have a lot of chances. They didn't need them," Detroit coach Scotty Bowman said. "We had odd-number situations we didn't read the right way and there's not much a goalie can do." The Oilers seized the momentum in the first period with two goals and by stopping Detroit on its first three power-play opportunities. The Red Wings finished 0-for-4 on the power play. The Red Wings celebrated their 75th year in the league with a pregame ceremony honoring former players such as Gordie Howe. But the buzz in Joe Louis Arena was silenced when Ryan Smyth scored the first goal 40 seconds into the game. "We were focused on getting a good start on these guys with all the hoopla going on," Guerin said. "Smitty made a great play, just by working hard, and we fed off of that. We talked after (Tuesday's loss to Montreal) about how good teams don't lose two in a row." The Oilers also beat Detroit 2-1 at home Friday night. "It's a confident team and a fast-skating team and tough to play," said Detroit's Kris Draper, whose goal sliced Edmonton's lead to 3-1 in the second. "We can't get behind like that. We did it in Calgary and were fortunate enough to come back and win. But you can't count on it every night. Nobody is afraid of the Detroit Red Wings. We know that." Just 44 seconds after Draper's goal, Murray slapped a shot past Osgood to make it 4-1. Aaron Ward cut the Red Wings' deficit to 4-2 in the second when his shot bounced off a skate and Salo's stick before going into the net. Detroit pulled Osgood in the final minutes and Martin Lapointe scored on a goal-mouth scramble with 1:29 left. Game notesA bus that was scheduled to pick up the Oilers late Tuesday night in Windsor, Canada, never showed up to take the team across the Detroit river. The team was forced to take numerous cabs and some players didn't get to sleep until 4 a.m. ... Murray, who played at Michigan State, also scored the game-winning goal against Detroit on Friday. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Edmonton Clubhouse Detroit Clubhouse RECAPS NY Rangers 3 Montreal 1
Edmonton 4 AUDIO/VIDEO   Bill Guerin fires his second goal past Chris Osgood.avi: 605 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||