|
 Draisaitl's third-period, power-play goal, scored at 18:03, went
down as the final goal scored in the history of Rexall Place. The
Oilers beat the Canucks 6-2 in the last game ever played at the
42-year-old arena.
"Obviously, it was pretty special, with the history in this
building," Draisaitl said. "I don't know if there's any words for
it. The last couple of years it hasn't gone the way we wanted it to
go, but the fans still come, they still support us, they're still
loud. Hopefully in the future we can give them more."
Patrick Maroon scored twice for the Oilers, who got 25 saves from
Cam Talbot.
With Hall of Famers such as Gretzky, Messier and Coffey among the
more than 130 Oilers alumni in attendance, the current edition of
the team won the battle between two teams that were long out of the
playoff race.
With so much pageantry around the closing of the arena, the game
itself had the feel of a sideshow attraction. During breaks in play,
the video screens were filled with homages to days of Oilers past.
 Edmonton led 3-0 through two periods before Canucks defenseman Matt
Bartkowski's point shot deflected off Oilers defenseman Adam Pardy
and into the net at 5:21 of the third.
Maroon scored at 9:08, tipping home a shot from Jordan Eberle, to
make it 4-1.
Eighteen seconds later, Taylor Hall made it 5-1, blowing down the
left wing, cutting in front of goal and depositing a backhand past
Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom (32 saves).
Vancouver's Bo Horvat made it 5-2 at 12:09 of the third. However,
Draisaitl made sure Horvat wouldn't become the answer to a trivia
question when his shot from the slot became the 5,010th and final
Oilers goal scored at Rexall Place.
The fans were named the first star of the night. And Connor McDavid,
the first overall pick in the 2015 draft, said it was great to soak
up the final seconds of the game with them.
"They have been behind us all year long even though we haven't given
them much to cheer about," he said. "Tonight, they were great. That
last minute was pretty special. We were all just trying to take it
all in and soak it in for the last time here."
Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said he was disappointed that his
team came out flat on such a special night.
"I just believe if you accept being average, you're going to be
average," Desjardins said. "Tonight we accepted being average. We
didn't fight through enough."
Henrik Sedin, second on the Canucks' scoring list this year, is sad
to see Rexall Place go.
"Well, the building has always been great," Sedin said. "I've always
enjoyed coming in here. The ice has always been really good and
working well towards our game. So, the crowd is always good, it's
always loud.
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"I remember our first five, six, seven years, the rivalry was there
and we had some good teams and tough games coming in here. It was
always fun to come here."
Even though Rexall Place had a party atmosphere seldom seen in the
10 years since the Oilers last made the playoffs, the home team
started flat.
It took nearly 11 minutes for the Oilers to register a shot on goal.
And they really only had one golden scoring chance in the first
period -- just before time expired -- when Hall had a tap-in effort
that was stopped by the pad of Markstrom.
After a sleepy first period, the home fans got the chance to
celebrate at 8:47 of the second period. Just seconds after the
Oilers won a faceoff in the offensive zone, Nail Yakupov's wrist
shot beat Markstrom over the shoulder on the short side.
At 13:16, seconds after the crowd roared in response to a video
tribute to Rexall Place from Alberta native and Fox Sports 1 host
Jay Onrait, they were on their feet to celebrate Maroon's goal. Like
Yakupov, he beat Markstom over the shoulder.
With 2:34 left in the second period, McDavid made it 3-0 when he
poked home a loose puck in front of the net.
Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse left the game in the first period
after a deflected puck caught him in the face. He did not return.
NOTES: The Canucks scratched D Yannick Weber. The Oilers scratched
LW Luke Gazdic, C Anton Lander, RW Adam Cracknell, D Nikita Nikitin
and D Adam Clendening. ... This was the 1,428th and final NHL
regular-season game at Rexall Place. The Oilers move into the new
downtown Rogers Place, which seats 18,641 for hockey, next season.
... A rally was held in front of City Hall with Oilers alumni to
mark the occasion. ... The Oilers' final playoff game at Rexall
Place was played nearly 10 years ago. On June 17, 2006, Edmonton
defeated Carolina 4-0 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, but the
Hurricanes won the series. ... There is still a summer filled with
concerts at Rexall Place, and the 2017 World Curling Championships
will be held there. A proposal is in front of city council to
eventually turn the arena into a community sports facility with
multiple rinks.
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reserved.]
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