Oilers make statement with victory over Sharks
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The surprise team in the Pacific Division made a final statement before the All-Star break.
Edmonton shrugged off fatigue and playing on the road to grind out a 4-1 victory over the Sharks and move into a virtual first-place tie with San Jose at sold-out SAP Center on Thursday.
The Oilers, 7-0-1 in their last eight games after road wins on consecutive nights over the Ducks and Sharks, snapped San Jose's season-high six-game winning streak. The Sharks and Oilers finish the pre-break portion of the schedule with a division-leading 64 points apiece with San Jose playing one fewer game.
Rookie forward Drake Caggiula scored at 11:31 of the third period to break open a one-goal game. Caggiula's breakaway came after he stole the puck from Sharks defenseman Paul Martin at the Edmonton blue line.
Edmonton's Connor McDavid added an empty-net goal -- his 17th -- at 18:08.
San Jose, which went 0 for 4 on the power play, had a great opportunity to tie the game early in the period after Edmonton defenseman Adam Larsson drew blood with a high stick of Sharks' center Joe Thornton.
But Oilers goalie Cam Talbot stopped two shots on each end of the double-minor to thwart the Sharks' efforts.
Andrej Sekera scored his second goal in as many periods with a late power-play strike to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
The Edmonton defenseman unleashed a blast from the left point that slipped through a screen provided by Oilers teammate Milan Lucic and past Sharks goalie Martin Jones with 17:07 elapsed in the second period.
Sekera's seventh goal of the season came on Edmonton's fourth shot in just 48 seconds on their first power play, courtesy of slash against McDavid by San Jose defenseman Brent Burns.
Sekera also gloved down Chris Tierney's attempted clear as the Oilers kept the Sharks' penalty killers hemmed in their end.
San Jose failed on two power plays earlier in the period -- a total of three shots during a combined four minutes -- as the Oilers were slow to manage any offense in the period. Edmonton didn’t manage its first shot until 13:44 elapsed and it came while the Oilers were short-handed.
Edmonton scored with 5.6 seconds left, a goal that stood after San Jose's failed coach's challenge for offside, sending the teams into the first intermission tied 1-1.
Sekera stepped into a shot from the mid-slot that caromed off the inside of Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic's right knee and past Jones as Oilers forward Patrick Maroon was in front.
Sekera's first goal of the game, assisted by the NHL's leading scorer McDavid, came after a long cycle in the San Jose end.
The Sharks opened the scoring at 4:05 when Logan Couture found the net for his 17th goal of the season to cap a three-on-two break. Patrick Marleau started the sequence in the Edmonton zone with a quick cross-ice feed to Mikkel Boedker, who dropped a perfect feed to Couture filling the slot.
Couture beat Talbot with a quick-release wrist shot on San Jose's second shot of the game.
NOTES: Thursday marked the 1,000th game for Doug Wilson as San Jose general manager. He's the fourth GM to reach 1,000 games after playing 1,000 (Bobby Clarke, Bob Pulford and Bob Gainey are the others). Of the milestone, Wilson said, "I've been extremely blessed to have been able to be involved in this game for more than 40 years. It's a testament to all of the players I was fortunate to play with and manage over the years, as well as the coaches, fans and people I have worked with and for, particularly ownership. Most importantly, is the love and support of my family because you go on a lot of road trips over 40 years. I would not be here without them." ... Edmonton continues to play without injured D Andrew Ference (hip), D Darnell Nurse (foot), RW Iiro Parkarinen (knee), RW Tyler Pitlick (knee) and LW Jujhar Khaira (wrist). ... F Tomas Hertl returned after missing 32 games with a right-knee injury. Hertl was slotted in on the top line alongside C Joe Thornton and RW Joe Pavelski. ... San Jose played without RW Joonas Donskoi (shoulder) and D Tim Heed (healthy). ... Edmonton's healthy scratches included C Anton Lander, LW Jujhar Khaira and D Eric Gryba.