  Oilers forward Robert Nilsson scores on Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo Tuesday night. (JASON FRANSON/Edmonton Sun)
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Had anyone other than Luongo let in the three atrocious goals Tuesday night against the Edmonton Oilers, they most likely would have been replaced.
However, not wanting to add fuel to a quickly spreading fire, Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault elected to keep his captain in the game, hoping his team could win despite their goaltending.
They couldn’t, as the Oilers took the three gifts, got some great goaltending of their own and skated to their third consecutive win in the form of a 3-2 victory over the Canucks.
“You don’t see many nights when he’s letting in goals like that, and you have to take advantage of that,” said Oilers defenceman Tom Gilbert, who got things started with a bad sharp-angle goal. “I was as surprised as he was when that puck went in. I was just trying to get the puck on net, actually I was trying to get rebound and I think it kind of threw him off guard, too. It was one of those goals you don’t usually see him let him.”
Gilbert, Robert Nilsson and Andrew Cogliano all scored on gifts as Luongo continues to struggle with his consistency following his gold-medal performance at the Olympics.
Nilsson beat Luongo on a rush off the wing, slipping a shot under his arm to give the Oilers a 2-0 first-period lead.
In the second, Cogliano scored the eventual winner on a long wrist shot that found its way through his pads.
Most goalies would have been pulled after the third bad goal, but Vigneault kept his captain in the contest.
“Louie is the type of guy that likes to battle through adversity like this,” Vigneault said. “It was a tight game, he is a great goaltender and he’s going to battle through things like this.
“The one thing about Roberto is that he takes responsibility for his performances. Without a doubt, he would like to have all three goals back. Saying that, we had plenty of really good chances to tie it up and we couldn’t. The type of team that we are and the type of athlete that Roberto is, we support each other and tomorrow is another game.”
In the third, Gilbert Brule should have added to the Oilers' lead on a breakaway, as he had the Canucks goaltender beaten but slid the puck right onto his pad.
As it turned out, the Oilers didn't need the insurance.
“I made some good saves, but unfortunately I should have had all three goals,” said Luongo. “I’ve to got find some consistency in my game. It was a bad game. I’d have that once every 12 games or so, but now it’s every two or three games. I have to get my swagger back.”
At the other end, Jeff Deslauriers was outstanding for the Oilers, especially after the Canucks had cut the lead to a goal. The Oilers goaltender came up a with a couple of huge saves on Mason Raymond in the third and made another outstanding stop on Alex Burrows in the second period.
Deslauriers finished with 31 saves on the night to collect his first career win against Luongo. Raymond and Daniel Sedin were the only Canucks able to be Deslauriers on the night.
“Obviously when a guy like that gives you an opportunity like that to win the game it’s good and you have to try to take advantage of it,” said Deslauriers. “Our guys did a good job defensively. They were coming hard for us, and our guys put their war helmets on and got the job done.
“For a goalie it’s great because you know they’re going to come hard in the defensive zone and they’re going to help you. It feels good to be able to get the win.”
