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Lowly Oilers hammer Sharks

Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves to earn his second career NHL win in as many games as the Edmonton Oilers skinned the San Jose Sharks 5-1 on Sunday.
HKN SHARKS OILERS 20100321
Edmonton Oiler Zack Stortini fights with San Jose Shark Brad Staubitz during first period in Edmonton on Sunday.

Oilers 5 Sharks 1

EDMONTON — Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves to earn his second career NHL win in as many games as the Edmonton Oilers skinned the San Jose Sharks 5-1 on Sunday.

Robert Nilsson, Dustin Penner, Fernando Pisani, Shawn Horcoff and Aaron Johnson scored the goals for the last-place Oilers (23-42-7) who have started playing the role of spoilers of late, winning their second in a row following a Friday victory over Detroit.

Ryane Clowe scored the lone goal for the Sharks (43-19-10) who have now gone 0-5-1 in their last six games and were passed on the night by the Phoenix Coyotes for top spot in the Pacific Division to drop them down to fourth overall in the Western Conference.

San Jose had most of the early pressure including a Joe Pavelski shot that hit the crossbar behind Dubnyk, but it was Edmonton that struck first, 11:10 into the opening frame. Nilsson poked the puck away from Joe Thornton at mid ice and went in alone, making a nice move on Evgeni Nabokov to score his 10th and make it 1-0 Oilers.

Edmonton made it a two-goal game just over a minute later as the rebound from a Ryan Potulny shot caromed off of a Sharks defender to Penner on the doorstep and he was able to slam it home for his 100th career NHL goal.

San Jose had a terrific opportunity to cut into the lead with two minutes left as Dany Heatley had a clear lane to the net but couldn’t slide it under a scrambling Dubnyk to keep it 2-0 after 20 minutes.

The Oilers went up 3-0 midway through the second period as Horcoff spotted Tom Gilbert in the slot, and while Nabokov was able to make a glove save on that shot, Pisani was in tight to lift home the rebound.

The Oilers put the game away with seven minutes left in the third as captain Ethan Moreau made a great pass through the crease to Horcoff at the other post to make it 4-0.

Edmonton made it a five-goal rout with five minutes left as Johnson scored on a shot from the point while the teams were playing four-aside.

The Sharks spoiled Dubnyk’s shutout bid with just three minutes to play as Clowe snuck a puck between the goalie’s skate and the post to make for a 5-1 final.

Both team are idle until Tuesday when the Oilers host Vancouver and the Sharks wrap up their thus far disastrous six-game road trip in Minnesota.

Notes: The Sharks came into the game winners of the six previous meetings between the two teams and all three previous matches this season. . .

With just 51 points this season going into the game, the Oilers have been on pace to record their worst ever record.

Their worst season as it stands was in 1992-93 when they went 26-50-8 for just 60 points. . . Edmonton’s magic number to finish last in the NHL is a combination of their own losses and Toronto wins now equalling just five. . . Gilbert got his 100th career NHL point with a second period assist. . . The Oilers shipped forward Chris Minard back to their AHL affiliate in Springfield with Mike Comrie shifting back in.