Shtalenkov, Oilers Blank Canucks

The Edmonton Oilers left their mark on the Vancouver Canucks -- literally.

"The reason we won the game is we played as physical, if not more physical, than they did," Oilers coach Ron Low said after Sunday night's 3-0 victory over the Canucks.

Mikhail Shtalenkov made 24 saves for his second shutout for the Oilers.

"I hope they remember, walking out of here tonight, that they're a little bit bruised and a little bit sore," Low added.

Rookie defenseman Tom Poti opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 2:34 of the second. The goal ended Edmonton's 0-for-35 drought on the power play, which dated back seven games to Dec. 8 in Nashville.

Right wing Pat Falloon and Kelly Buchberger also scored for the Oilers, who remained tied for the Northwest Division lead in the Western Conference with Colorado at 15-16-3.

The Oilers improved their home record to 7-8-0 and won for only the second time in 11 games.

"It seems like our record at home is not very good," said Shtalenkov, as he lowered his goals-against average to 2.25 in 1,333 minutes.

The Canucks (13-17-4), who lost 2-0 Saturday night in San Jose, are now 0-3 against the Oilers this season and have been outscored 12-4.

"We were a little sluggish coming back after the Christmas break," said Vancouver defenseman Bryan McCabe.

Vancouver dropped three points behind Edmonton.

"it's tough," said vancouver left wing Markus Naslund. "We got on a roll and won two games (last week) against Calgary. But I think we've got to work a little harder."

Falloon's goal made it 2-0 with three seconds remaining in the econd period. The goal was Falloon's ninth, surpassing his 1997-98 total of eight in 58 games with Philadelphia and Ottawa.

Buchberger scored shorthanded into an empty net with 46 seconds left in regulation. It was his fourth of the season.

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