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EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers may not have made any ground in their quest for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, but head coach Craig MacTavish isn't worried that time is running out on his team.
Andrew Cogliano scored a pair of goals as the Oilers continued their unlikely playoff push, defeating the Minnesota Wild 5-3 on Monday night.
It was the sixth win in their last seven games and 12th in their last 15 for the Oilers (39-33-5), who leapt past idle Nashville into ninth place in the Western Conference. They remained three points back of eighth place Colorado, which won 2-0 at home against Calgary on Monday.
"The bottom line is that it could be anybody that falls," MacTavish said. "These are tough games. If somebody goes on a stretch in the last five games where they only win a game, then even the top teams are vulnerable. It's unlikely but this whole thing has smacked of unlikely-ness right from the outset. Something strange is going to happen."
Edmonton's Fernando Pisani checks Minnesota Wild's Derek Boogaard during the first period. (John Ulan/CP)
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- Edmonton Oilers
- Minnesota Wild
- Nicklas Backstrom
- Eric Belanger
- Kyle Brodziak
- Brent Burns
- Andrew Cogliano
- Pavol Demitra
- Todd Fedoruk
- Sam Gagner
- Curtis Glencross
- Josh Harding
- Ales Hemsky
- Sean Hill
- Robert Nilsson
- Mark Parrish
- Dustin Penner
- Marc Pouliot
- Dwayne Roloson
- Nick Schultz
- Martin Skoula
- Ladislav Smid
- Zack Stortini
Curtis Glencross, Dustin Penner and Kyle Brodziak also scored for Edmonton.
"It was another real solid game," said Oilers assistant captain Steve Staios. "We just keep going. We have to be really happy with that effort, that was a really good team that we played today. We got some goals early and took away their momentum."
Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson says something pretty special has happened with this team down the stretch.
"Especially with the experience we have in here," he said. "We have a lot of young guys and they are playing unbelievable. They are playing like veterans. It's a breath of fresh air when we come in here and they are all excited."
Nick Schultz, Sean Hill and Todd Fedoruk replied for the Wild (40-28-9) who have now lost three of their last four but stayed in the Northwest Division lead, one point up on Calgary.
It was little comfort for Wild coach Jacques Lemaire, who was not pleased with his team's performance.
"It didn't look good eh?" he said. "It didn't look good from behind the bench either. We were not ready to play. Period. Not ready to play. We played a little bit in the third because some of the guys were upset and they had to do something.
"We probably had the record for turning the puck over tonight. I didn't count it but we probably had the record."
Edmonton got off to an blistering start, scoring three goals on their first four shots on Minnesota goalie Nicklas Backstrom.
The Oilers kicked off the scoring just two minutes in as Wild defender Martin Skoula pushed Edmonton's Zack Stortini into Backstrom, giving Glencross an easy goal into an open net.
Edmonton made it 2-0 at 4:44 as the Wild got caught on a bad change, giving up a two-on-one break. Robert Nilsson fed it to Cogliano who outwaited Backstrom as he slid across the crease.
Just 18 seconds later it was a three-goal Oiler edge as Ales Hemsky hit Penner in full flight, and he fought off Brent Burns before putting home a backhand goal.
Josh Harding came in to replace Backstrom in the Minnesota net.
The move ended up paying immediate dividends as the Wild caught a break just 39 seconds after the third Edmonton goal as Nick Schultz's point shot went off defenceman Ladislav Smid, and past Roloson.
Edmonton went ahead 4-1 four minutes into the second as Harding made a clumsy clearing attempt. Brodziak picked it off and patiently waited the Wild goalie to go down before scoring.
A minute later it was a two-goal game again as Wild blue-liner Hill blasted a bullet from the point that went through a sea of legs and into the Edmonton net for his first of the season.
But Edmonton continued to pour on the pressure and got another one before the midway point of the period as Sam Gagner made a great feed in front to Cogliano, who snuck his second of the game between Harding's skate and the post on the backhand.
"It was two nice passes from Sam (Gagner) and (Robert) Nilsson," Cogliano said. "They are world-class passers."
Minnesota got one back seven-and-a-half minutes into the third just as a power play expired when Fedoruk tipped a Martin Skoula point shot past Roloson.
The Oilers and the Wild will play part two of a home-and-home affair on Wednesday in Minnesota.
Notes: It was the seventh meeting between the two teams. The Wild led the seasonal series 4-2 coming in Minnesota forward Mark Parrish dressed after being a healthy scratch the two previous games after being held scoreless in his past nine games. Pavol Demitra sat out. Wild centre Eric Belanger, who suffered a broken toe March 7 in Atlanta, made his return to the lineup Edmonton's Marc Pouliot continues to play much better in his most recent call-up to the Oilers. During his first stint early in the season, he was held pointless through nine games. In his last 10 games during his latest call-up, Pouliot has a goal and five assists for six points The Canadian national anthem was sung by the daughter of three-time world champion Canadian curler Dave Nedohin, five-year-old Halle.
