VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Donald Brashear and Markus Naslund each scored twice as the Vancouver Canucks concluded a disappointing season with a 5-4 victory over the playoff-bound Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.
Defenseman Steve Staios collected three assists for the Canucks, who missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years despite closing on a three-game winning streak and five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2).
Ryan Smyth scored his 39th goal for Edmonton, whose third-period rally fell one short. The Oilers went winless in their last four games (0-2-2) but can finish sixth in the Western Conference if St. Louis does not win at Detroit on Sunday. If Edmonton is sixth, it will play Detroit in the first round of the playoffs. A seventh-place finish means an opening-round matchup with Dallas.
"It's out of our hands. I'm sure certain guys have their preferences, but I don't care," Edmonton's Doug Weight said. "We have to beat a good team either way. Both Dallas and Detroit are two proven, quality teams. Dallas missed the playoffs last year, but they've had a great season, and Detroit's been a powerhouse for four or five years. Either way, it's going to be a great test for our hockey club."
Mike Sillinger passed from behind the net to Brashear, who flipped a shot over goaltender Curtis Joseph at 8:19 of the first period, lifting Vancouver into a 1-1 tie. Brashear got his eighth of the season and third in two games a little more than nine minutes later to put the Canucks ahead for good.
"I think they were playing a little tight. I felt I had a lot of room out there," Brashear said. "I just needed the chances and I had them, missing on most, of course. I'm not a natural goal-scorer. (Scott) Walker said he was feeding me like a baby. I missed some and got some."
Martin Gelinas made it 3-1 with a power-play goal 1:41 into the second period. Before the game, Gelinas was named the Canucks most valuable and most exciting player.
"We've been playing really good for the last three weeks. You look at guys like Brashear and Naslund, but it's been too little, too late," Gelinas said. "We had a lot of injuries and the injury to Trevor (Linden) really hurt us. It's going to be a long five months off."
Naslund tallied twice in a 3:12 span to push the Vancouver lead to 5-1.
Ralph Intranuovo got his first goal of the season with 1:05 to go in the second period to start Edmonton's comeback and Jason Arnott scored on the power play just under six minutes into the third to make it 5-3. Doug Weight tallied with 15 seconds remaining and the Oilers pulled backup goalie Bob Essensa for an extra attacker, but could not get the equalizer.
"I think we came out too relaxed," Arnott said. "We weren't hitting and playing the way the Edmonton Oilers normally play. We did battle back and took it to them in the third. We came up short, but really, we needed to come out better at the start."
Kirk McLean, one of the few bright spots for Vancouver during a 35-40-7 season, made 41 saves to improve to 21-18-3.
The teams split the season series 2-2-1.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Donald Brashear
2. Steve Staios
3. Markus Naslund
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