Music: {allcanada} Hall's hat trick sinks Canucks 4-0

Saturday, March 30, 2013

{allcanada} Hall's hat trick sinks Canucks 4-0

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- Taylor Hall had a hat trick and the Edmonton Oilers scored early and often to make it three victories in a row for the first time this season, cruising past the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 on Saturday.

Devan Dubnyk made 23 saves for his second shutout of the season and Ladislav Smid also scored for the Oilers (14-13-7), who are 6-2-2 in their past 10 games.

Hall's third goal also set an Oilers record for the fastest hat trick to start a game at 7:53, beating 12:38 set by Wayne Gretzky in 1986.

The Oilers are in a four-team tie just one point back of eighth seed St. Louis in the Western Conference playoff race.

The Canucks (19-10-6) had their six-game winning streak ended.

Edmonton was unstoppable to begin the game, scoring on its first three shots.

The Oilers got to Cory Schneider quickly, scoring just 16 seconds into the game on the first shot of the game.

Hall came in wide with speed for a breakaway and blasted a shot glove-side over Schneider's shoulder for an early 1-0 Edmonton lead.

The Oilers scored on their second shot at 2:05 as Smid scored a goal on a shot from the point to make it 2-0 before many fans had taken their seats.

Roberto Luongo came in to replace Schneider, who had allowed just six goals over Vancouver's past six games and had a pair of shutouts in that span.

Luongo didn't fare much better as the Oilers then scored on their third shot of the game 2:43 into the first period. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fed it through to a hard-charging Hall, who sent his second of the game stick-side past the Canucks backup.

It was the fastest three goals from the start of the game in Edmonton's franchise history, breaking the record of three in 3:25 against Colorado in 1981.

Edmonton made it 4-0 before eight minutes had elapsed on their fifth shot as Hall earned his third career hat trick, stuffing it between Luongo's legs from the side of the net on the power play.

The Oilers had 11 first-period shots to 10 from the Canucks on Edmonton starter Devan Dubnyk.

Edmonton was coming back for more with eight minutes gone in the second period, but Luongo made a nice glove save on a tip by Lennart Petrell.

There was no scoring in the second period, as Vancouver continued to lead on shots 18-14.

Hall came close to getting his fourth goal of the game with 7 1/2 minutes left in the third period, but Luongo made a diving save to keep the puck out of the net.

Notes: It was the third of five meetings between the division rivals this season, having split the previous two games, each win coming for the road team. Vancouver picked up a 3-2 overtime win in the most recent matchup in February. ... Despite struggling to score goals of late, Daniel Sedin still leads the Canucks in goals scored with 10 ... Vancouver forwards Zack Kassian (back) and Dale Weise (shoulder) were both out of the lineup, as was defenseman Keith Ballard (foot) was also absent with a minor foot fracture. ... Oilers forward Eric Belanger remained out with a groin injury ... Oilers forward Sam Gagner, who got his 250th point on Thursday, played in his 400th career NHL game.