Oilers lose 4-1 in Saturday night Shark attack

Edmonton's Denis Grebeshov and San Jose's Ryane Clowe battle for the puck in San Jose Saturday night. The Sharks went on to beat the Oilers 4-1. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

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PRE-GAME

Preview Game Notes Head-to-Head Stats Comparison Game Program Video interviews Audio Interviews

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Watch tonight's video highlights. Oilers post-game video interviews with Deslauriers, Horcoff and Pat Quinn. Sharks post-game video interviews with Murray, Heatley, Blake and McLellan.

AUDIO

Pat Quinn Shawn Horcoff Jeff Deslauriers Audio Highlights at San Jose.

THREE STARS

Douglas Murray, SJS Patrick Marleau, SJS Torrey Mitchell, SJS

UPDATE

With the loss, the Oilers drop to 16-22-4 and remain in 15th spot in the Western Conference with 36 points.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Oilers return to Edmonton for a four-game homestand that starts Tuesday, January 5 vs. Phoenix. The puck drops at 7:00pm MST. If you can't make the game, you can watch it live on Molson Canadian Oilers Pay Per View. Click here for more information.

by Jen Sharpe | edmontonoilers.com

Although the Oilers showed promise by creating scoring chances and countering Dany Heatley's early second-period marker with a goal by Robert Nilsson, Edmonton was ultimately unable to beat the Western Conference leaders and suffered a 4-1 loss Saturday night.

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers held their own in the first 10 minutes against the conference's top club but managed to register only one shot on Evgeni Nabokov while the Sharks got five on Jeff Deslauriers.

Edmonton responded with three shots near the 11-minute mark, but San Jose quickly regained control and took the first lead. Just off the crease, winger Jamie McGinn tipped Kent Huskins' shot through Deslauriers' legs to put his club up 1-0.

The Oilers goalie couldn't catch enough of that shot, and four minutes later another attempt trickled past him. With help from Scott Nichol and Brad Staubitz, Douglas Murray slipped the puck past the netminder, making it 2-0 on eight Sharks shots.

In the frame's final two minutes, Dustin Penner caught Joe Thornton with a high stick to give San Jose the game's first powerplay. Edmonton's penalty killers outlasted the period but would be down a man for 36 seconds to start the middle frame.

SECOND PERIOD

Although the Oilers killed the rest of Penner's penalty, it took only seven more seconds for the Sharks to tally a third goal. Sneaky Dany Heatley circled the net and wrapped the puck between Deslauriers' skate and the post to make it 3-0 San Jose.

But just over three minutes later, the visitors got that one back. With Sam Gagner at his side, Robert Nilsson fired on Nabokov and wristed home his own rebound to get the Oilers on the board.

Shortly after the goal, Jason Strudwick and Ryane Clowe thrilled fans with a scrap in the Oilers zone. Clowe was soon joined by Jody Shelley in the penalty box, but Edmonton's first powerplay sputtered and tallied only one shot on net.

Holding and tripping minors to Zack Stortini and Joe Pavelski soon forced nearly two minutes of four-on-four, and the speedy Sharks took advantage of the opened-up ice. After surging across the blue line with Thornton, Patrick Marleau sniped the puck past Deslauriers to renew his team's three-goal cushion.

Despite trailing on the scoreclock, the Oilers continued to battle and owned a 16-15 shot lead heading into the third period.

THIRD PERIOD

The penalty box doors were kept swinging in the early part of the final frame as the clubs traded infractions, but the powerplays proved unsuccessful and the 4-1 game continued.

The desperate Oilers were caught in a shoving match at Deslauriers' let in the game's final minutes, a brawl that resulted in a fighting major to Jay Leach, roughing minor to Torrey Mitchell, and one of each to Steve Staios.

But the defenceman's aggression couldn't kickstart some scoring, and the Oilers dropped a 4-1 decision to the Sharks Saturday night.