Oilers host Sharks at Rexall Place

San José Sharks vs Edmonton Oilers 2-1 (0-1, 1-0, 1-0)

Edmonton made no lineup changes from the loss against Atlanta. San José were 22-13-6 coming into this game, while the recent run of losses had dropped the Oilers to 23-14-2 and 6th place, one behind the Sharks.

The Oilers got off to a solid start, giving Gustavsson a lot of work in the Sharks net during the initial ten minutes of the first period. The reward came by Brooks Laich's first goal in seven games. The game evened out after that, but Edmonton kept their lead into the intermission.

Nikolai Khabibulin had played a near perfect first two periods, supported by a disciplined defense, but had to yield to the last in a series of shots from the slot, which was wristed home by super-veteran Niklas Lidström.

There was trouble brewing early in the final period, as Dany Heatley sniped home a loose puck from out wide. Edmonton rallied quickly to put heavy pressure on Gustavsson, but the onslaught was kept at bay by minute-loggers Boyle and Lidström, who were on for every other shift. The brave Oilers lost again.

Post game: "We had enough chances, we did the defensive job well enough, our goaltender was very good. What failed?" asked GM Kowalski rhetorically when asked to comment on the game. Clearly disappointed, the Polish-Canadian called upon his forwards to use possession more wisely and to take better shots.


Scoreboard
1st Period:
EDM - Laich (Gilbert)

2nd Period:
SJS - Lidström (Clowe, Pavelski)

3rd Period:
SJS - Heatley (Thornton, Lidström)



Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

Lines:
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Cogliano - Laich - O'Sullivan
Moore - Krysanov - Brule
Moreau - Falardeau - O'Marra

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman

Khabibulin
(Hiller)