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Vancouver Canucks' Roberto Luongo, centre, makes the save as Edmonton Oilers' Dustin Penner, left, looks for the rebound as Edmonton Oilers' Ales Hemsky, right, of the Czech Republic, looks on during first period NHL action in Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday October 25, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl DyckDARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press

Vancouver Canuck players keep succumbing to injury, but it seems the more bodies lost, the better the results.

The was the case again on Sunday as the undermanned Canucks defeated the undermanned Edmonton Oilers 2-0 behind a record-setting Roberto Luongo shutout.



The Canucks, who improved to 2-4 against Northwest Division opponents with their third straight victory, moved above .500 for the first time in this young NHL campaign thanks to goals from Henrik Sedin and rookie Michael Grabner, and a tight defensive effort that kept the visitors at bay.

Luongo made 27 saves in his second splendid start of the weekend. It was his 21st shutout as a Canuck, which surpasses Kirk McLean's former team record of 20.

"It's not the most important thing that I have in mind right now, but I'll take it," Luongo said. "We're not a team that's going to win 6-5. We've always been a team that will win 2-1, or 3-2, especially now with a lot of injuries. We have to go back to our system even more…and have games like tonight where we scrapped one out."

Oilers backup Jeff Deslauriers, who was starting in place of Nikolai Khabibulin for the second of back-to-back games, made 27 saves and was only beaten by deflections. Edmonton lost 5-2 to Calgary on Saturday, while Vancouver beat Toronto 3-1.

"I'm not satisfied because we didn't win," Deslauriers said. "There were some positives to keep in mind, but maybe I'll need to be practicing those deflections tomorrow."

Each team entered the game minus six regular skaters, although Vancouver's lineup was reinforced by defenceman Mathieu Schneider, who played his first game as a Canuck after signing as a free agent this summer. Schneider, 40, missed the first 10 games while recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, and is expected to quarterback the team's power play and mentor defenceman Alexander Edler, who is off to uneven start.

Schneider's return may help the blue line, but the forward ranks continue to be depleted.

Centre Kyle Wellwood broke a toe while blocking a shot against the Leafs. He is considered day-to-day, and has been replaced by Russian rookie Sergei Shirokov, who was recalled from the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose.

Shirokov won a job with the NHL team at training camp, but was demoted after three ineffective games. Upon his return, the 23-year-old was tossed immediately onto the first line with Sedin and Mikael Samuelsson, which demonstrates just how little scoring is in Vancouver's lineup these days.

Besides Wellwood, the team is without Daniel Sedin, Pavol Demitra, Sami Salo, Jannik Hansen and Rick Rypien. Demitra, in fact, had a setback while recovering from shoulder surgery, and underwent another procedure late last week. He will be lost for at least eight weeks.

The Canucks staved off a two-man disadvantage in the first period, then weathered a four-minute penalty in the third period.

"We didn't do enough," Oilers coach Pat Quinn said. "We were pretty easy to play against. We played on the outside tonight and when you play like that, you get these results.

"We have not learned how to win because we abandon our team principles too quickly."

Edmonton's five-on-three advantage lasted for one minute and 32 seconds, and featured several dangerous point shots from Patrick O'Sullivan, and some rebound opportunities for Ethan Moreau and Dustin Penner. The Oilers were less potent on the third-period power play, which came because Grabner cut Lubomir Visnovsky with an accidental high stick.

It was the Austrian's only miscue, as he continues to look more and more relaxed in NHL surroundings, notching 13 shots in his last two games. The former first-round draft pick has five points in six games, after tipping home a Christian Ehrhoff shot for a power-play goal late in the first period. Sedin's goal also came on a deflection.

"The coaches told me to shoot every time I have the puck and I have a chance to hit the net," Grabner said. "I'm getting more comfortable as the days go on here and it's a lot of fun to play right now."

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