The Edmonton Oilers defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in 3 OT on Wednesday, cutting the Sharks lead to 2 games to 1 in their best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final playoff round. Shawn Horcoff finally broke the deadlock 2:24 into the third overtime session.
The Oilers knew they had to win game three at Rexall Place in Edmonton to have any chance of winning the series. They played like it too, dominating the first period by outshooting the Sharks 15-2. San Jose didn't get its first shot on goal until the final five minutes of the period.
The goaltending of Vesa Toskala kept the Sharks close as Marc-Andre Bergeron scored the only goal of the period on a slap shot at 10:04 on an Oilers power play.
The Sharks bounced back in the second period and scored twice. Patrick Marleau tied things up only 1:19 into the second session before Joe Thornton set up Pat Rissmiller at the 9:30 mark to give San Jose a 2-1 lead.
Edmonton refused to quit and finally tied the game with just 6:47 remaining in regulation time on a wicked shot by Raffi Torres that just went in under the cross bar and tied the game at 2-2.
The overtime periods became a showcase for the two goalies as both Toskala and Edmonton's Dwayne Roloson made spectacular saves to keep the game going. Edmonton carried the play in most of first two extra sessions but could not solve Toskala. By the second OT, both teams were exhausted after having played three games in four nights.
Finally, at the 2:24 mark of the third OT, Horcoff took a pretty backhand pass from Ryan Smyth and poked the puck past Toskala to end the game. It was the longest contest in Sharks history and the third longest in the storied history of the Oilers franchise.
'We really needed that game,' said Horcoff in the winner's locker room. 'It's a big lift for us right now. I was really impressed with the composure we had in the locker room,' he added. 'We just don't know how to quit.'
Sharks coach Ron Wilson was disappointed by his team's performance but remained confident the Sharks would recover. 'We didn't drive to the net at all. We played on the perimeter,' he said. 'We'll bounce back. We've been a resilient team all along.'
Game 4 will be in Edmonton Friday night at 8:00 ET. For now, both teams will enjoy a hard earned day of rest.
