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Monday, Feb. 21 9:00pm ET
Edmonton's hats are off to Laraque | |||||
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BOX SCORE
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- Georges Laraque was the unlikely hero in the game that pushed the Edmonton Oilers into first place. The 6-3, 240-pound defenseman scored a career-high three goals in the Oilers' 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings that put Edmonton atop the Northwest Division, one point ahead of Colorado. A shower of hats came down when Laraque completed his first hat trick. "When I got that chance there was no angle," Laraque said. "I just shot. It was an emotional moment. I would never have thought I would see a hat on the ice for me. It's unbelievable." The third goal came after Laraque took a pass from Boyd Devereaux along the side boards and deked goalie Stephane Fiset with 16 seconds left in the game. "Boyd was on the boards," Laraque said. "A defenseman was on my back. I did a little Denis Savard spin-o-rama." Kings defenseman Garry Galley was impressed by the skill Laraque showed. "He held off guys and drove to the net. You have to give him credit for that," he said. Ethan Moreau, Doug Weight and Janne Niinimaa also scored for the Oilers. Luc Robitaille, Craig Johnson and Galley had goals for Los Angeles. Robitaille tied Michel Goulet for 17th place on the league's career scoring list with his 548th goal. Robitaille is fifth in career goals among active players. Laraque backhanded in the rebound of Jim Dowd's slap shot from the blue line to open the scoring at 7:34 of the first period. "We got the big guy putting the puck in the net," Weight, the Oilers' captain said. "That line played unbelievable. Georges is a kid at heart. We created a little monster now." His second goal came at 14:58 of the second when he deflected Roman Hamrlik's slap shot from the faceoff circle past Fiset, putting the Oilers ahead 2-1. It has been a long time since Laraque knew the thrill of a hat trick. "In junior, way back," Laraque said. "To get it in the NHL, I'm going to pinch myself." Moreau put the Oilers up 3-1 at 18:59 of the second when he scored from the slot on a power play after taking a pass from Weight. Johnson brought the Kings within 3-2 by beating Tommy Salo from the goal mouth after a scramble around the net at 6:01 of the third. After Weight scored on a rebound at 16:26 of the period, Galley's slap shot from the point beat Salo, bringing the Kings within a goal. Niinimaa put the game out of reach with an empty-net goal at 19:31. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Los Angeles Clubhouse Edmonton Clubhouse RECAPS Washington 1 Carolina 1
Edmonton 6
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