EDMONTON, Alberta -- Brett Hull and Igor Kravchuk scored 20 seconds apart midway through the third period, helping theFormer teammate knocks Gretzky unconscious
St. Louis Blues rally for
a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
The final score was overshadowed by an injury to the Blues' superstar center Wayne Gretzky, who was playing just his second game with St. Louis since his acquisition Tuesday from the Los Angeles Kings.
With 13:30 left in the second period, Gretzky was elbowed in the right cheek by former Oilers teammate Kelly Buchberger and fell to the ice. He was unconscious for one to two minutes before being helped off the ice by trainers. Gretzky was diagnosed with a severe headache and was taken to a local hospital.
"It wasn't a dirty play on my part," Buchberger said. "I was just trying to take the body and he (Gretzky) pulled up to miss a check from Luke (Richardson). I actually thought at the time that I hit him on the shoulder or upper arm. I just saw the replay and let me tell you, there was no intent on my part. Every game is a playoff game for us and we need to play for keeps."
Buchberger didn't draw a penalty and Gretzky's teammates saw the play as a cheap shot, however.
"I think it was a bad play," said St. Louis defenseman Murray Baron, who started a fight with Buchberger after his hit. "Number 99 (Gretzky) deserves some respect out there and it's my job to make sure he gets it. I don't care if it was out of character for Buchberger, he hit Gretzky with a blatant elbow right on the chin and there's no room for that."
The Oilers trailed 2-1 after two periods but took the lead on a pair of power-play goals. Jason Arnott's 19th goal of the season just 20 seconds into the third period tied it and Zdeno Ciger's 26th at the 8:48 mark gave Edmonton a short-lived 3-2 lead.
Hull tallied his 35th goal 56 seconds after Ciger's marker, tying it 3-3. Edmonton goaltender Curtis Joseph stopped Al MacInnis' shot from the point but the rebound caromed to Baron in the right circle. Joseph made a sliding save on Baron's shot but Hull grabbed the rebound on the left side and scored over Joseph.
Kravchuk, who began the season with the Oilers, scored his sixth goal just 20 seconds later. Rob Pearson passed ahead to Mike Hudson along the left boards and Hudson sent the puck into the high slot, where Kravchuk fired a one-timer past Joseph.
MacInnis, Pearson, Hull and Kravchuk each had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who are 6-1-3 in their last 10 games. St. Louis moved within one point of the Vancouver Canucks, which beat Buffalo 3-0 Sunday, for fourth place in the Western Conference. St. Louis is 3-1 against Edmonton this season.
Grant Fuhr, starting his 63rd straight game, stopped 17 shots.
"We managed to fight through some adversity with the injury to Gretzky and some penalty trouble in the third," Fuhr said. "It was a weird game in that sometimes the players were allowed to hook and hold and other times, they weren't. The bottom line though is that we got two big points on the road and we need every win that we can get."
Luke Richardson also tallied for the Oilers, who are 2-7-1 over their last 10 contests.
"It really hurts to get a lead in the third period then end up losing the game," Richardson said "This was a huge game for us and looking back, if we could have gotten even one point, it would have helped us. St. Louis is a great team, but right now it doesn't matter who we're playing. It's a must-win game every night."
The Blues out-shot the Oilers 39-20 and converted two of their six power-play opportunities.
