Garon Snuffs Out Flames; Oilers End Skid

[February 05, 2008]  EDMONTON (AP) -- Mathieu Garon made 24 saves, and the Edmonton Oilers ended a two-game losing streak with a 5-0 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday night. Fernando Pisani, Dustin Penner, Ales Hemsky, Steve Staios and Sam Gagner scored for Edmonton in Garon's fourth shutout of the season.

The Oilers' second win in five games moved them within six points of the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Curtis Joseph made his first start in goal for the Flames after signing with the team last month. He made 23 saves.

Calgary has dropped two in a row after winning four straight.

Edmonton took the lead 6:24 in when Andrew Cogliano hit Pisani with a pass in front of the net. Joseph made the initial stop but Pisani slid the rebound under his pads.

The Oilers extended their lead with just 35 seconds remaining in the opening period as Geoff Sanderson took a rebound behind the net and made a deft no-look feed to Penner, who beat Joseph with a hard wrist shot to his glove side.

Edmonton made it 3-0 five minutes into the second on the power play. Joseph allowed a big rebound on a point shot by Jarret Stoll. Gagner's follow shot caromed off of Hemsky and in.

Calgary had a chance to get back into the game early in the third when Stoll took a double-minor for high-sticking, but the Flames were unable to put a puck past Garon.

A fight-filled game nearly got out of hand with seven minutes gone in the third.

Flames forward Eric Godard gave Garon a shove into the post, sparking several altercations. Joseph even skated the length of the ice before things calmed.

Edmonton ended up with a seven-minute power play as a result, and the Oilers put the game out of reach with a pair of power-play goals just over a minute apart. The fourth goal came on a point blast from Staios, quickly followed by a goal on a wrist shot by Gagner.

Notes: The Oilers playoff hopes took another serious hit on Monday with the news that leading scorer Shawn Horcoff will be the lost to them for the remainder of the season, requiring shoulder surgery on Wednesday. ... Curtis Glencross made his Oiler debut on Monday. The 25-year-old rookie was acquired in a trade with Columbus for defenseman Dick Tarnstrom on Friday. ... With his next victory, Joseph will move into a tie with Terry Sawchuk for fourth spot on the NHL's all-time list with 447. Only Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur and Ed Belfour have more career regular season wins.

[Associated Press]

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