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Related Multimedia: The Edmonton Oilers return home to face the Vancouver Canucks tonight on the heels of a successful road trip. Certainly, success in the shootout had a lot to do with picking up five of a possible six points but the team also scored 14 goals in the three games and have found a groove offensively. Read tonight's Oilers-Canucks game preview!, Shawn Horcoff have been chippin fox sports g in on a regular basis but now the trio of Sam Gagner Edmonton Oilers' Fernando Pisani, left, scores against Detroit Red Wings' Dominik Hasek, right, of Czech Republic, during the second period of their NHL hockey game on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007 in Detroit. (AP Photofont> Gagner was moved back to the centre position when MacTavish put this line together and he has clicked immediately with N fox sports ilsson on the left side. -He-s a really skilled player. He gets to the right spots on the ice and knows what to do with the puck,- said Gagner.Nilsson concurred, saying he enjoyed playing with someone as skilled as Gagner.-Sammy can pass the puck. He-s a very good all-around player and knows if he gives up the puck he-ll get it back.-The duo played together briefly earlier this season alongside Co fox sports gliano but adding Pisani to the line has really helped give them a defensive conscience. -It-s good for our line. Pisani is always in the right spots as well and is really great to play with. He-s been unbelievable since he got back,- Gagner noted. -He-s been through the league and knows what it-s all about. For me and Nilsson it-s a great fit.-Nilsson agreed that having Pisani on the line really fox sports completes it as a legitimate second line on the team. -When Fernando-s back, he does all the (crappy) work for us two. He-s really good along the boards and when he gets in the slot he usually scores or gets the rebound to one of our sticks,- said Nilsson.It has resulted in Nilsson playing the best hockey of his young NHL career. He has a point in each of his last eight games and nine of 10. 11 of fox sports his 14 total points netted this season have come during this recent 10-game stretch.-I don-t really think he even thinks about it,- Gagner said of Nilsson-s career-high eight-game scoring streak. -Going on a streak is pretty nice but the main thing we focus on is playing a solid game, every game. If we do that, the points will come.-You can-t worry about the points and how far the streak-s going. fox sports You just have to focus on the right things and hopefully we can continue to have some success here.- , right, celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Dallas Stars in the first period of a hockey game, Monday, Dec. 10, 2007, in Dallas. (AP Photofont> Gagner went on to talk about the difference he-s observed between Nilsson now and earlier this season when his struggles res fox sports ulted in a demotion to Springfield of the American Hockey League.-He-s playing with a lot of determination and drive. He wants to be here and maybe being sent down made him realize where he wants to be - he wants to be a part of the Edmonton Oilers.-Nilsson has also noticed the change in his game. -I think I-m playing a little bit smarter hockey,- Nilsson remarked. -I stay on the right side of the fox sports puck a lot more than I did at the start of the season. That-s probably why the puck is coming to my blade a little bit more than usual.-Following a performance on October 12 against Vancouver that saw him have only 5:43 of icetime, the Oilers demoted Nilsson to the farm. -There-s always a reason why someone gets sent down. That reason for me was because I didn-t do the small things right and was fox sports on the wrong side of the puck. Mac didn-t have the confidence to put me on the ice.-After picking up two goals and two assists in his first two games with Springfield, things didn-t get much better for Nilsson in the AHL. He was held scoreless in his next three games and was even a healthy scratch for a game in late October. -It-s an up-and-down game. I was playing down there and was a healthy scr fox sports atch and the day after got called up again,- he said. -You have to enjoy it when you-re up and fight back when you-re down.-The message sent by Falcons head coach Kelly Buchberger must have been heard loud and clear, however. He had some success shortly after his recall, scoring his first goal of the season in a game at Calgary. -Bucky tries to help me down there, too. If I don-t do my job down th fox sports ere, it doesn-t matter if it-s the minors or the show, you don-t play.-The Oilers head coach felt that the healthy scratch in Springfield may have been the true turning point. -A lot of times, we talk about that being the motivator - the failure being the biggest impetus for motivation,- MacTavish said. -Clearly he-s got all kinds of skill to play at this level so why aren-t you?-In his return to fox sports the Oilers, Nilsson found his offensive game initially but then it dropped off again. He was held scoreless for six straight games and saw limited icetime in some of them. However, MacTavish never seriously entertained the thought of sending him back to the AHL.-I don-t remember me thinking that it-s time to get him back (to Springfield),- said MacTavish. -Once you sent him down the first time, th fox sports e message has been delivered.--The one thing I said to him at that instance was you don-t have to get something done every night. It-s okay to go out there and have a shift where you don-t get a lot done. As long as you survive the shift, you-re not giving something up doing it - trying to make a high-risk play because you-re putting an inordinate amount of pressure on yourself to get something do fox sports ne offensively.-Nilsson took that advice to heart and has played a very smart game at both ends of the ice recently. MacTavish has rewarded him with plenty of icetime. -Now I feel he-s getting more confidence having me out there and it doesn-t matter if there-s three minutes left in the game,- Nilsson said. -That makes my confidence go up and that-s why I play better.-Even at the start of the seas fox sports on, MacTavish pointed out that the team-s success was linked to the play of Nilsson. With secondary scoring, the club has many more options up front. fox sports
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