Associated Press

11/26/2003

Kris Draper scored twice, including one of Detroit's four power-play goals, and the Red Wings easily beat the Oilers 7-1 Wednesday night.

Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan each had a goal and an assist, and Darryl Bootland, Brett Hull and Steve Thomas also scored and Mathieu Schneider added three assists for Detroit, which outshot Edmonton 43-16.

Related Info  Oilers/Red Wings

``Where to start? Let's start from the first shift,'' said MacTavish. ``I realized it was going to be a long night in the middle of the second shift.''

It was Hull's 726th career goal, moving him within five of Marcel Dionne for third place on the NHL list. Wayne Gretzky (894) is first and Gordie Howe (801) is second.

Radek Dvorak scored for Edmonton.

``I think the thing that I liked most overall was the way we played in our own zone and the way we kept going forward'' said Detroit coach Dave Lewis. ``We looked fast tonight because we were always chasing the puck.''

Yzerman, playing in his 1,400th game, opened the scoring with a power-play goal 9:36 in when he backhanded in a loose puck from the corner of the crease.

Bootland's first NHL goal made it 2-0 with 18.8 seconds left in the period when the rookie put a backhander in from in front.

``Just to go out there and contribute on a team like this is great,'' he said.

Detroit added two more power-play goals in the second period.

Shanahan put in a wrist shot from the left circle at 2:03, and Hull drove in a loose puck from the bottom of the left circle with 6.2 seconds remaining.

Those goals were sandwiched around Dvorak's, which came at 3:23.

Draper scored at 6:07 of the third period and with 4:20 left.

He now has nine goals for the season, which is third on the team behind Yzerman and Hull.

``I don't know what to say,'' Draper said. ``Just shooting and going to the net. I'm going to continue to do that.''

Draper didn't get his ninth goal last season until Feb. 10.

Thomas made it 7-1 with 2:19 remaining.

``They had a lot more energy than us,'' said Edmonton's Ethan Moreau. ``It's amazing our record is as good as it is with how well our special teams have played.''

Notes: Yzerman is the 21st NHL player to play 1,400 games. ... Detroit was without G Dominik Hasek (groin) and LW Ray Whitney (groin). ... Red Wings RW Tomas Holmstrom separated his right shoulder in the first period. It will be evaluated again in a couple of days when the swelling goes down. He's out indefinitely. ... Edmonton D Eric Brewer sustained a strained groin in the first and didn't return. He's day-to-day.