Hall has 3 assists in Oilers' 5-2 win over Canucks
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) Taylor Hall had three assists to reach 80 points on the season and help Edmonton beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 Saturday night in Oilers forward Ryan Smyth's final game.
Roman Horak, Jeff Petry, Will Acton, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for the Oilers, who snapped a two-game losing skid in their season finale. The win moved the Oilers past Florida into 28th place overall with Tuesday's NHL draft lottery looming.
The fans, however, were more interested in seeing Smyth go out on a win after a career that saw him total 386 goals, 456 assists and 842 points in 1,270 games. Smyth, however, was unable to get the power-play goal that would have given him sole possession of the franchise record, remaining in a tie with Glenn Anderson at 126 for his career.
Smyth was loudly cheered all night and no show of respect could have been bigger than the Canucks players coming back out on the ice to shake his hand after the final whistle, before the sobbing Alberta native said goodbye to his coaches and teammates.
Shawn Matthias and Zack Kassian scored for Vancouver, which lost for the sixth time in seven games. The Canucks close the season Sunday at home against Calgary.
Edmonton started the scoring just 2:14 into the game as Steven Pinizzotto made a pass from behind the net to Horak in the slot and the recent AHL call-up scored his first of the year past Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom. The assist was Pinizzotto's first NHL point.
Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens withstood a barrage of early shots to keep Vancouver off the board and Edmonton made it 2-0 with 7 minutes left to play in the first. Nugent-Hopkins was able to get the puck to a pinching Petry in front and he beat Markstrom high to the glove side for this seventh of the season.
Vancouver outshot Edmonton 18-5 in the first period.
The Oilers made it 3-0 at 2:14 of the second period as Philip Larsen's shot hit a stick in front, but the clearing attempt went directly to Acton, who zipped home his third of the season.
The Canucks got on the board 5 1/2 minutes into the second as Scrivens attempted a diving poke check on Matthias, but the momentum carried the puck into the net anyway to make it 3-1.
Edmonton scored again with 4 minutes left in the second as Eberle tried to hit Smyth in front for the record-setting power-play goal, but the puck caromed in off defender Alexander Edler instead.
The Oilers took a four-goal lead 1 1/2 minutes into the third period after Martin Marincin's shot created a scramble in front and Canucks defender Nicklas Jensen inadvertently chipped the puck in off the skate of Nugent-Hopkins.
The Canucks closed the scoring with a goal by Kassian with just 11 seconds left.
Vancouver finished with a 42-22 shooting edge.
NOTES: It was the fifth and final game of the season between the divisional rivals. The Canucks won the first three games by a combined score of 12-3 before Edmonton won the fourth matchup 4-2 on Jan. 27. ... Smyth concluded his NHL career after spending 15 of his 20 seasons in the league for the Oilers, ranking second on the franchise's all-time list with 971 games played. He was given the Oilers captain's `C' for the game. ... Nugent-Hopkins celebrated his 21st birthday. ... College free agent F Michael Zalewski, who signed with Vancouver on March 14 after playing for RPI, made his NHL debut.