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Early goal sparks Kings win
By
CRASH CAMERON, QMI Agency
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It was Pups on the Pond night at Rexall Place Saturday for a promotion that allowed fans to bring their pooches to the rink.
It just happened to be for a game between the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Prince George Cougars, two teams whose respective records have them residing in the Western Hockey League doghouse.
It was the Oil Kings who let the hounds loose early en route to a 3-2 victory.
A game after notching his first goal as an Oil King, big winger Cameron Abney doubled that total 31 seconds after the opening faceoff.
"We certainly had a good start," said Edmonton coach Steve Pleau. "That line (Abney, Mike Piluso and Michael Burns) has been good for us. They came out right away, banged some bodies and shot pucks at the net."
Robin Soudek scored what proved to be the winning goal for Edmonton late in the opening period.
"You get up 2-0 you start to think it's going to be easy," said Pleau. "But I think we got a little cute at times."
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GAME GRADES OVERALL: B
Offence: B
Defence: C
Goaltending: B+
Power play: C
Penalty killing: C
Toughness: B
Effort: B+
THREE STARS
1. Mike Piluso, Edm.
Skated hard all night and picked up two assists.
2. Cameron Abney, Edm.
Since nobody will fight him, he might as well keep scoring.
3. Cam Lanigan, Edm/
A solid 31 saves between the pipes.
NOTES
Called up by the Cougars, Edmontonian Dane Phaneuf is the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Dion Phaneuf. Big bro was at Rexall Place with his girlfriend, Elisha Cuthbert, to take in Dane's WHL debut .
