Oilers Slip Past Canadiens

Edmonton defenseman Sean Brown got his first NHL goal and gave coach Kevin Lowe his first victory.

The 22-year-old Brown scored on a slapshot from the top of the faceoff circle to break a tie midway through the third period and give the Oilers a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday.

"It's good for the team," Brown said. "It was Kevin's first win, my first goal. Hopefully we can build on this."

"I took a shot," he said. "It got blocked by (Turner) Stevenson. I got the rebound. I was just trying to get it on the net. It hit someone's stick. It had eyes and got to the top corner."

Brown's shot deflected off defenseman Craig Rivet's stick. Rookie wing Paul Comrie assisted on the play in his second NHL game.

Alex Selivanov scored for Edmonton in the first period.

Patrick Poulin tied the game for Montreal at 7:19 of the third.

Montreal outshot Edmonton 13-4 in the third and 25-22 overall.

"It's good for Brownie," said Lowe. "He got robbed a few times. He played great for us last season. He's a good team guy. He plays physically."

Montreal coach Alain Vigneault was disappointed with the result, but wasn't discouraged by the effort as the Canadiens slipped to 0-2-0-0 in the Eastern Conference.

"They came out very strong," Vigneault said of the Oilers. "They took it to us. Then I thought we adjusted better."

"We had our chances in the third. We could have won it. But there's a fine line between winning and losing."

Oiler captain Doug Weight admitted the Oilers won ugly.

"I like the way we won the hockey game," he said. "We didn't get frustrated. We were patient. It was ugly. You know what, the ugly one's still ount as two points."

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