EDMONTON, Alberta -- Rexall Place will forever be remembered as the place where Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey skated. However, Leon Draisaitl had the last laugh.

Draisaitl's third-period, power-play goal, scored at 18:03, went down as the final goal scored in the history of Rexall Place. The Oilers beat the Canucks 6-2 in the last game ever played at the 42-year-old arena.

"Obviously, it was pretty special, with the history in this building," Draisaitl said. "I don't know if there's any words for it. The last couple of years it hasn't gone the way we wanted it to go, but the fans still come, they still support us, they're still loud. Hopefully in the future we can give them more."

Patrick Maroon scored twice for the Oilers, who got 25 saves from Cam Talbot.

With Hall of Famers such as Gretzky, Messier and Coffey among the more than 130 Oilers alumni in attendance, the current edition of the team won the battle between two teams that were long out of the playoff race.

With so much pageantry around the closing of the arena, the game itself had the feel of a sideshow attraction. During breaks in play, the video screens were filled with homages to days of Oilers past.

Edmonton led 3-0 through two periods before Canucks defenseman Matt Bartkowski's point shot deflected off Oilers defenseman Adam Pardy and into the net at 5:21 of the third.

Maroon scored at 9:08, tipping home a shot from Jordan Eberle, to make it 4-1.

Eighteen seconds later, Taylor Hall made it 5-1, blowing down the left wing, cutting in front of goal and depositing a backhand past Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom (32 saves).

Vancouver's Bo Horvat made it 5-2 at 12:09 of the third. However, Draisaitl made sure Horvat wouldn't become the answer to a trivia question when his shot from the slot became the 5,010th and final Oilers goal scored at Rexall Place.

The fans were named the first star of the night. And Connor McDavid, the first overall pick in the 2015 draft, said it was great to soak up the final seconds of the game with them.

"They have been behind us all year long even though we haven't given them much to cheer about," he said. "Tonight, they were great. That last minute was pretty special. We were all just trying to take it all in and soak it in for the last time here."

Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said he was disappointed that his team came out flat on such a special night.

"I just believe if you accept being average, you're going to be average," Desjardins said. "Tonight we accepted being average. We didn't fight through enough."

Henrik Sedin, second on the Canucks' scoring list this year, is sad to see Rexall Place go.

"Well, the building has always been great," Sedin said. "I've always enjoyed coming in here. The ice has always been really good and working well towards our game. So, the crowd is always good, it's always loud.

"I remember our first five, six, seven years, the rivalry was there and we had some good teams and tough games coming in here. It was always fun to come here."

Even though Rexall Place had a party atmosphere seldom seen in the 10 years since the Oilers last made the playoffs, the home team started flat.

It took nearly 11 minutes for the Oilers to register a shot on goal. And they really only had one golden scoring chance in the first period -- just before time expired -- when Hall had a tap-in effort that was stopped by the pad of Markstrom.

After a sleepy first period, the home fans got the chance to celebrate at 8:47 of the second period. Just seconds after the Oilers won a faceoff in the offensive zone, Nail Yakupov's wrist shot beat Markstrom over the shoulder on the short side.

At 13:16, seconds after the crowd roared in response to a video tribute to Rexall Place from Alberta native and Fox Sports 1 host Jay Onrait, they were on their feet to celebrate Maroon's goal. Like Yakupov, he beat Markstom over the shoulder.

With 2:34 left in the second period, McDavid made it 3-0 when he poked home a loose puck in front of the net.

Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse left the game in the first period after a deflected puck caught him in the face. He did not return.

NOTES: The Canucks scratched D Yannick Weber. The Oilers scratched LW Luke Gazdic, C Anton Lander, RW Adam Cracknell, D Nikita Nikitin and D Adam Clendening. ... This was the 1,428th and final NHL regular-season game at Rexall Place. The Oilers move into the new downtown Rogers Place, which seats 18,641 for hockey, next season. ... A rally was held in front of City Hall with Oilers alumni to mark the occasion. ... The Oilers' final playoff game at Rexall Place was played nearly 10 years ago. On June 17, 2006, Edmonton defeated Carolina 4-0 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, but the Hurricanes won the series. ... There is still a summer filled with concerts at Rexall Place, and the 2017 World Curling Championships will be held there. A proposal is in front of city council to eventually turn the arena into a community sports facility with multiple rinks.