The Edmonton Oilers slipped past the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in a
shoot-out Thursday in a Western Conference showdown between teams
vying for the eighth and final playoff spot.
San Jose – The Edmonton Oilers slipped past the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in a shoot-out Thursday in a Western Conference showdown between teams vying for the eighth and final playoff spot.
The loss gave San Jose one point, leaving the Sharks 10th in the conference with 48 points. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim defeated Ottawa in a shoot-out Thursday to reach 49 points for ninth. Edmonton is eighth with 55 points.
“We had plenty of opportunities in the third period,” said Sharks coach Ron Wilson. “I’m happy we battled back to get a point. That’s huge. From the second period on, we were forechecking, drawing penalties, the things we need to do. I’m a little disappointed we didn’t generate the scoring chances we needed on the power play.”
“Our goaltending was awesome,” said Sharks defenseman Kyle McLaren. “We have to find ways to scratch and claw for some goals. We had our chances to capitalize to get that second point.”
Edmonton recorded two goals against Vesa Toskala in the shoot-out, by Michael Peca and Ryan Smyth. Nils Ekman logged the only Shark goal in the three-round shoot-out.
Trailing 2-1 after two periods, the Sharks were able to withstand an Oilers 5-on-3 power play for 1:28 early in the third period. Once that danger passed, San Jose came out of a time-out with 12:09 left in the third period to pull even at 2-2 on Milan Michalek’s eighth goal of the campaign.
The Sharks began the tying play when Jonathan Cheechoo carried the puck to the Oiler blueline before feeding a streaking Michalek in the high slot. Michalek slipped around defenseman Jason Smith and flicked the puck over goalie Mike Morrison’s left shoulder from 10 feet out at 8:05.
The five-minute overtime left it at 2-2, despite an Oiler penalty that gave the Sharks a 4-on-3 power play for the last two minutes of action. San Jose came up with three shots on net during the extra-man play.
The Oilers made the most of six shots on net in the first period to fashion a 2-0 lead.
Edmonton, a winner just three times in its past 10 games, solved Toskala twice in the first 11 minutes. A power play goal opened the scoring at the 8:21 mark. Sharks’ nemesis Chris Pronger rifled a shot from the blueline that Toskala rebuffed, only to have circling Shawn Horcoff pounce on the rebound for the quick stuff over a prone goalie.
The Oilers made it 2-0 at 10:56 during a delayed penalty on San Jose’s Grant Stevenson. Oiler Steve Staois shook off Stevenson’s trip, collecting the puck along the left boards and drilling a successful shot inside the right post past a screened Toskala.
The Sharks sliced the Oiler advantage in half with a power play goal 4:17 into second period action.
Staois earned a delay of game penalty by sending the puck into the crowd of 15,683 with 3:56 elapsed in the period. The first power play unit needed only 21 seconds to succeed. Joe Thornton kept the puck inside the Oiler zone with strong stickwork at the blueline. A Jonathan Cheechoo shot from the left circle dribbled to Thornton at the right dot. The league’s third-leading scorer with 64 points in 43 games, Thornton slipped the puck under Morrison to make it 2-1.
Both teams came close to another goal in the second period. A Pronger power play rocket was tipped past Toskala by Smyth at 6:58, but was disallowed because Smyth’s action was the result of a high stick. Ekman found himself sprawled on the ice in front of Morrison as a loose puck slid along the crease at the 8:55 mark. Ekman’s effort resulted in a shot off the left post.
