The surging Edmonton Oilers – who had won four out of their last five games – came into General Motors Place Saturday night hoping for a regulation win which would move them to within three points of the Vancouver Canucks and to within four points of the 8th place Colorado Avalanche. While on the other hand, the Canucks were looking to put an end to their mini-slump and leap frog the Avalanche into the eighth and final playoff spot in the highly contested Western Conference.

After a passionate playoff-like battle which featured 14 fighting majors, eight misconducts and 193 penalty minutes (excluding Mason Raymond and Ladislav Smid’s third period tussle which seems to have been overlooked on the boxscore), the Canucks came out of the night merely back in the playoff picture as they defeated the Oilers by a final count of 4-2, but at what cost?

Taylor Pyatt left the game in the first period with an undisclosed injury after being pasted into the boards by Zach Stornini, who proved to be a thorn in the Canucks’ side throughout the entire night. Matt Cooke’s questionable hit from behind on concussion-prone Mathieu Roy, similar to that of Randy Jones (who was suspended two games) on Patrice Bergeron in October of last year, will likely be the subject of discussion in Senior Vice President Colin Campbell’s office bright and early Sunday morning, as will Alexandre Burrows’ one-handed slash on Steve Staios.

However, if Burrows and/or Cooke do receive any supplementary discipline for the aforementioned events, you can bank on the fact that Steve Staios (for his two-handed slash on Burrows as he notched an empty netter to seal the deal for the Canucks), and Matt Greene (for his elbow/forearm shiver to the northern region of Ryan Kesler) will receive identical, if not steeper punishments for their actions.

From the outset, it was apparent that the 18,630 overzealous fans at General Motors Place were in for a fun-filled affair of “old time hockey.” By the 21 second mark, both teams’ penalty boxes became filled to capacity. Byron Ritchie and Zach Stortini were sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct minors, as were Steve Staios and Daniel Sedin (who engaged in an unforeseen battle over the course of the night), in a failed attempt by referees Mike Leggo and Dan O'Halloran to get a grasp on the game which was visibly about to implode.

Alexandre Burrows and Dustin Penner also both received 10 minute misconducts as a result of the early mêlée. Lost in the fray was Curtis Glencross’ breakaway in which he deked to the backhand but was turned away by Roberto Luongo’s glove hand. Mattias Ohlund received a slashing minor on the same play which could have drastically altered the outcome of the game.

Five minutes later, after Ryan Kesler took a blatant elbow to the chops from Oilers defenceman Matt Greene, Brad Isbister jumped to the aid of his teammate as he and Greene squared off in the first of 7 (official) fights of the night, only 2 of which came before the last minute of play in the third period. Other combatants included Brad Isbister and Steve Staios, the diminutive Mike Weaver and Curtis Glencross, rookie Luc Bourdon (on his 21st birthday) and Zach Stortini, Matt Greene and Trevor Linden, Willie Mitchell (in only his second game back after suffering a fractured vertebrae) and Kyle Brodziak, and possibly the most unexpected pair of all, Ryan Kesler and Sam Gagner.

The incident which sparked the last minute line-brawl was Alexandre Burrows’ (who is now riding a three-game point streak) empty netter in which he celebrated after being viciously slashed by Steve Staios. As Burrows stood in front of the Oilers’ vacant net with a smile on his face and with his arms held high above his shoulders, Jarret Stoll offered him a face full of mitten and Burrows took exception by responding to Stoll’s offer with a spin-o-rama one-handed slash. From that point, the last minute of this key Northwest Division NHL encounter seemed more like the end of a key Northwest Division NBA encounter, due to the constant stoppages of play which more than often resulted in several instances of good old fashioned fisticuffs.

Despite all the drama, there was a hockey game that was played Saturday night in Vancouver, and it was a good one at that. The Sedin twins – Henrik and Daniel – continued their dominance of the Edmonton Oilers as they along with country mate and linemate Markus Naslund recorded a combined total of 7 points. Daniel finished off a gorgeous tic-tac-toe play initiated by captain Markus Naslund which proved to be the game winner, after Naslund picked off an arrant pass by Oilers rookie defenceman Tom Gilbert 15 feet in front of goaltender Matthieu Garon.

Sam Gagner – who has been promoted to Edmonton’s first line due to Shawn Horcoff’s season ending injury – stretched his point scoring streak to seven games as he assisted on Marty Reasoner’s late first period goal with a beautiful saucer pass from behind the goal line. Another game within the game tonight was Vancouver’s checking center Ryan Kesler holding Edmonton’s Ales Hemsky to zero points and only 2 shots on net. Coach Alain Vigneault kept to the Kesler vs. Hemsky match-up throughout the duration of the game despite all the penalties, and it proved to be the right decision.

Many fans of both the Canucks and the Oilers are hopping mad and calling for suspensions after this heated affair, however, they should just take a breath and simply appreciate the entertainment value that this Hockey Night in Canada match-up provided. It’s a distinct possibility that at least one suspension will come of this game once the dust settles if the NHL wants to continue with its no-nonsense approach, but if I was Colin Campbell, I would just leave what happened on the ice. It’s these types of games that bring teams together, and looking at the tight Western Conference standings, this game couldn’t have come at a better time for the Vancouver Canucks.

Canucks Notes

On HNIC After Hours, Vancouver Canucks General Manager confirmed that the Canucks have indeed placed an offer for Peter Forsberg, but have yet hear anything from the Forsberg camp, therefore suggesting that they are still in the running. Nonis also went on to say that he will NOT under any circumstances move Ryan Kesler or Alexander Edler in a deal for an unrestricted free-agent. Lastly, Nonis suggested that he believes Mats Sundin might just “end up in Toronto.”

Kevin Bieksa has resumed full practice with the team after suffering a lacerated right calf on November 1st, 2007 in a 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators. Bieksa has not set a timetable for his return, but it is expected that he will return to the line-up sometime in the next two weeks.

After a 2 goal and 2 assist performance Saturday night increasing his season total to 75 points, Canucks prospect Dan Gendur is now 4th in points in the Western Hockey League.

Farhan Devji is the author of a fictional hockey based novel, “The Hockey Farmer.” For more information, visit thehockeyfarmer.ca.tp.