VANCOUVER - Chris Higgins scored the only goal of the shootout Saturday as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-4.
Higgins beat Viktor Fasth with a quick shot in the third round before Canucks goalie Ryan Miller stopped Benoit Pouliot on Edmonton's final chance.
Henrik Sedin and Radim Vrbata each had a goal and an assist for Vancouver (2-0-0) in regulation, while Nick Bonino and Linden Vey picked up their first goals as members of the Canucks. Miller finished with 25 saves in overtime and regulation in his home debut.
Daniel Sedin added three assists for Vancouver, which registered a 4-2 victory in Calgary on Wednesday to open their schedule.
Mark Arcobello had a goal and an assist for Edmonton (0-1-1), while Brad Hunt, Nail Yakupov and Jesse Joensuu also scored. Fasth made 37 saves through 65 minutes, and Teddy Purcell and David Perron each picked up two assists.
The Canucks trailed 4-3 after two periods, but tied the game on the power play at 7:06 when Vey beat Fasth through the five-hole. The goal was Vancouver's second on the power play and came on its seventh consecutive chance with the man advantage.
Miller looked a little shaky at times but made a big save off Edmonton forward Taylor Hall with about nine minutes to go in regulation to keep things tied.
The Vancouver netminder was called upon again on a late Oilers' power play, and made a couple of good stops after Edmonton's Boyd Gordon saw his deflection hit the post and stay out.
The teams traded chances in an exciting overtime, with the Canucks outshooting the Oilers 41-29 overall after Edmonton held a 10-5 edge after 20 minutes.
Up 2-1 after the first, Yakupov stretched Edmonton's lead at 2:22 of the second off the rush, beating Miller through the pads on a shot the free-agent signing would probably want back.
The Canucks got that one back 2:04 later when Bonino, who was acquired in the Ryan Kesler trade from the Anaheim Ducks this summer, tipped home his first with his new team off a point shot from defenceman Dan Hamhuis. The Oilers complained that a hand pass from Vancouver's Alexandre Burrows helped set up the goal, and television replays suggested they had a case. Burrows was eventually credited with an assist on the play.
Hall was then assessed a four-minute penalty for high sticking, but it was Edmonton that initially capitalized when Joensuu moved in on a short-handed breakaway and beat Miller with a backhand at 8:36.
Vancouver responded on the same power play when Daniel Sedin took a feed at the side of the net and found Vrbata, who rifled his second in as many games with his new team since signing as a free agent in July.
The Oilers opened the scoring on their first shot of the night when Hunt — a native of nearby Maple Ridge, B.C., playing in just his fifth career game — ripped a one-timer off the crossbar and in on the power play for his first NHL goal at 5:41 of the first.
Edmonton doubled its lead at 10:31 off a 3-on-2 break when Purcell fed Arcobello with a back-door pass through Miller's crease that the Oilers' forward just had to tap into a yawning cage.
The Canucks talked a lot about puck possession in training camp under new head coach Willie Desjardins but were held without a shot for more than 10 minutes before cutting Edmonton's lead in half in the dying seconds of the period. Daniel Sedin grabbed the puck off the sideboards and fired a shot that his twin brother Henrik tipped by Fasth with just 9.9 seconds left on the clock.
Notes: Daniel Sedin's assist in the first period was the 500th of his career. ... In a scheduling quirk, the Canucks don't play again until Friday when they meet the Oilers in Edmonton. ... The Oilers' next game is Tuesday on the road against the Los Angeles Kings before they pay a visit to the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday. ... Canucks defenceman Christopher Tanev was in the lineup after missing the last two days of practice with an undisclosed injury.
