Rugged left winger grabs Oilers by the throat and keeps them in playoff race following 5-4 over visiting Nashville.

Lineup
Smyth	Horcoff	Hemsky	Brewer	Smith
York	Nedved	Dvorak	Cross	Staios
Moreau	Stoll	Laraque	Bergeron	Ulanov
Torres	Oates	Pisani
			Markkanen
			Conklin
Scratched: Isbister, Chimera, Ferguson, Semenov

Postgame

Yes, at this point they are all big games. None can be taken too lightly. But for the Oilers this one was just a little different and certianly a lot more arduous.

The last time the Oilers had won in San Jose was back in March of '00. The Sharks have also just just six times in regulation in the '04 season and if they won this game they could leap past the Avalanche and land pleasingly in second place in the Western Conference standings.

So Sunday night's test in San Jose was like trying to climb uphill with a knapsack full of anvils.

And yet the Team That Cannot Be Defined rumbled and rolled along to a convincing 5-2 victory that leaves them just one scant point behind the Blues and what is their suddeningly precarious hold on 8th place in the WC standings.

Truth be told this wasn't as convincing as the scoreboard suggests. Sure the Oilers managed just seven less shots than their opponents but it was a game played for the most part at a blistering pace and one where the Oilers were for once actually the beneficiary and not the victims of shoddy netminding.

Couple that with the fact that all of a sudden the Oilers offense is a good defense that currently verges on the, well, offensive tip and that chalks up to a win that keeps the Oilers from the ever impending chalk outline of the also rans that currently dwell outside of the WC playoff picture.

Jussi Markkanen drew the starting straw for this game and he made three great saves before the ice was wet. San Jose had 11 wins and 25 points in their last 17 games and they came out buzzing. But Cory Cross temporarily stemmed the tide when his slapper zipped off a Sharks stick and past a startled Evgeni Nabakov.

Patrick Marleau tied it at the midway point while the Stars enjoyed the powerplay but Marc Andre Bergeron gave the Oilers a late frame advantage when he walked unmolested off the right side and somehow sifted a slapshot through Nabkov's seemingly prepared pads.

The shots were 14-9 after 20 for the Sharks and the Oilers would pretty much keep up with San Jose for the rest of the game. But it was when the Oilers had a real chance to gain momentum that San Jose made it's way back into the game.

With Edmonton enjoying a 2-1 lead and their second consecutive man advantage, Steve Staios killed what was left of the PP with a needless icing that resulted in an own zone draw with less than 10 seconds remaining in the oppurtunity. Shawn Horcoff lost the ensuing faceoff and in his zeal to cover his check screened Markkanen while Kyle McLaren's shot found purchase.

When all hope seemed lost amidst another night of terrible special teams play by the Oilers, an old friend showed up to help them regain the lead.

San Jose had the next man advantage with Jarrett Stoll in the box with his second stupid penalty of the night but it would be the Oilers who would mark. Ryan Smyth began a flurry of chances when his long distance heave hit the pipe only to have Vincent Damphousse bust down the other end and slip a far side side just shy of Markkanen's left post. But the puck quickly rimmed up the other side and Mike York collected it to give the Oilers an odd man advantaged that further increased in size with a hard charging Jason Smith joining the play and pleading with York for the drop pass. York obiliged and Smith went five hole to jump the Oilers out to a 3-2 lead that would hold until the second period horn sounded.

With so many third period leads and wins having disappeared in this recent charge, the final frame brought much anxiety to both players and fans alike.

But the defense didn't rest and a recent re-addition to the lineup helped usher in the first insurance goal.

Ales Hemsky, fresh out of mothballs and looking just as deft in his first two periods of work, first swooped the Sharks net to try and feed Horcoff for an easy tap-in. This venture failed but the Paraduice Prodigy remained undaunted and on his second foray to the right of Nabakov he decided to silk a pass to a waiting Eric Brewer who showhow got a slapper past Nabakov to make it 4-2.

Marc Andre Bergeron finished the scoring near the midway of the period when he backhanded in a Nedved rebound to give the Oilers more breathing room in any recent game since their 7-2 pounding of the hapless and hopeless Phoenix Coyotes.

This win vaulted the Oilers into 9th place and past the Kings and left Edmonton just one point and two wins behind the 8th place Blues. It may not leave much margain for error, but one game remaining against St Louis means that for the first time in this remarkable run the Oilers now have their own destiny in their hands.

Which when you consider how they've got here is more than either of them could've expected or asked for.

Take a breath, folks, we've got seven more games of drama left.

Three Stars

Marc-Andre Bergeron - Made a ghastly giveaway just prior to the Brewer insurance marker but this is the mark of an offensive defensmen who years for just more than a kiss of the glass. Two goals, four shots on net and +1 in 16:19 of icetime for the former QMJHL defenseman of the year. Shine on you riverboat gambling diamond.

Jussi Markkanen - A fine rebound game from his last appearence when he allowed four goals on 20 shots to a struggling Canucks squad. This night saw Jussi stop 32 of 34 shots and he looked damn confident in doing so. Is it just me or does he play better on the road?

Eric Brewer - A goal, an assist and +1 in 25:46 of icetime for the BC product. He's holding up to the icetime that Mactavish has entrusted him with.

Out of Town Scoreboard

Tonight marked the beginning of a five games in eight days stretch for the Oilers so come the conclusion of next Sunday's game vs the aforemention Coyotes, the Oilers should have a good idea of just how much help they'll need in the league's last week. No Oiler impacting games tonight and the next one to keep an eye on is when the Ducks visit Nashville on Tuesday night

Oil Gauge

Nice to see Mactavish re-inset Hemsky into the lineup and do it from a perspective of him actually being able to contribute offense to the team. An assist and one shot on goal in 13:00 for the guy who has more hopes pinned on him by Oilers fans than anyone outside of Jeff Drouin-Deslauries....I'm sorry people but there are always going to be negatives in even the best of times and right now Steve Staios is struggling. The early season workload is catching up to him and it could be just me but maybe it isn't the best idea to tax an already gassed defensemen with special teams responsibility on a unit that's never really benefitted from his presence. As I mentioned before, Staios no longer kills penalties unless one of the big PK four, Smith-Brewer-Cross-Ulanov, are the ones fingered for the infraction. Staios played 17:56 in this game but 2:35 of those minutes came on the powerplay. Staios has a very fine +15 rating on the season but just nine of his 28 points have come with the man advantage. It makes no sense to use what little March gas he has left on the PP...Two assists from Nedved as he shook off a malaise that had surrounded him in the last game. He also went 12/16 from the circle and his win to the right of Nabakov lead to the Oilers first goal....Also noteworthy is that Shawn Horcoff went a very impressive 15/21 from the circle.

Next Game

Monday night in LA as the Oilers look to land a death blow to the Kings. A win would put the Oilers three points and five points ahead of LA with the Kings still posessing a tough schedule and one more game versus the Oilers in what is now a visiting death valley called Rexall Place. It's a PPV affair and the puck drops at around 8:35 MST.