GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Sharks 2

SAN JOSE, CA – All hands on deck in the Shark Tank.

The Edmonton Oilers used their depth to win their third straight game on Thursday in a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center, receiving goals from Connor Brown, Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner and 27 saves from goaltender Calvin Pickard to pull within five points of the Pacific Division lead.

Connor Brown scored his first goal in 11 games during the first period, and Viktor Arvidsson scored in a third straight contest to make it 2-1 on the power play in the middle frame before Jeff Skinner's 15th goal of the seasosn on a deflection with 5:03 remaining in the period wound up as the game-winner.

Leon Draisaitl recorded an assist on Viktor Arvidsson's 13th goal of the campaign but left the game during the second period with an injury.

Calvin Pickard was terrific in his fourth straight start by making 27 saves, including a massive stop on winger Collin Graf late in regulation with the Sharks net empty that sealed the two points for the Oilers on a night when the Vegas Golden Knights dropped points to tighten up the Pacific Division playoff push.

"I think Picks was really good and made some big saves at big moments," Jeff Skinner said. "They have a lot of skilled young guys and a lot of speed, so they put pressure on you. I think we'd like to execute a little bit better, but we got the result we wanted and we did a good job sticking with it."

The Oilers will continue their road trip on Saturday afternoon with an important Pacific Division battle with the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena.

FIRST PERIOD

Winger Connor Brown got the Oilers on the board with his first goal in 11 games 6:22 into the opening period by cutting through the Sharks defence and finishing top shelf on San Jose goaltender Georgi Romanov for the 1-0 lead.

Former Sharks defenceman Jake Walman – now in an Oilers uniform – picked out Jeff Skinner in the neutral zone for the quick pass to Brown, who was at full speed and skated in to score his ninth goal of the campaign.

Walman's secondary assist on his first trip back to the SAP Center as an Oiler gives him points in back-to-back games and seven points (1G, 6A) in 13 games since being acquired from San Jose at the Trade Deadline.

"It's nice to show the depth of our group and get performances from different guys," Brown said. "You got to show up offensively and I thought it was a good win."

San Jose would have a quick response to tie things up at 1-1 just 1:48 later, scoring on a well-taken one-timer from defender Jack Thompson after he was found open at the top of the right circle from below the goal line by Alex Wennberg.

San Jose would come back from two separate one-goal deficits on Thursday and show there's a lot of fight still in this Sharks team that sits last in the NHL – with Edmonton having two more games remaining against them in the regular season.

"You gotta be careful what trap games are, because the NHL is so competitive," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "It's not that any game is ever easy. You see a team at top of the standings and they can get beat by the team at the bottom just because a team plays really well. The better team might not play well, the goaltender might be hot or whatever it is, so we're careful using the 'trap' terminology.

"But definitely, that's a team that is capable of beating us. We've had two one-goal games against them so far and I think anytime we can be beaten by them."

It was a night for Edmonton's depth to try and take over the game for their team when they needed two points to keep pace with the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific's playoff race. The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Golden Knights on Thursday while the Kings were victorious over Utah Hockey Club, making the deficit three points for LA to the top of the Pacific.

SECOND PERIOD

You're going to need depth with names like Connor McDavid, Mattias Ekholm and Stuart Skinner missing from your lineup, and you can add concern over Leon Draisaitl to that list after the German superstar left the game during the second period and didn't return.

After Draisaitl pulled up from taking a face-off on a second-period power play, the German went straight to the Oilers bench before ultimately being ruled out for the rest of the game, leaving Edmonton with 11 forwards to finish out the final 30 minutes. Draisaitl was playing his fourth game back from missing six contests due to injury from Mar. 18-29 and had three goals and two assists over four games prior to leaving Thursday's game.

Before leaving the game, Draisaitl set up Arvidsson for a one-timer on the power play that gave the Swedish forward goals in three straight outings, representing some significant depth contributions for the Oilers with a few injuries to some of their top players.

Arvidsson has scored nine of his 13 goals since Jan. 7 and notched his first power-play goal of the season on Thursday after wiring home his 13th goal of the season from the slot just 13 seconds after the man advantage started.

"Obviously we've had some injuries to key guys. I think it's a lot of opportunity for other guys to step up and I think guys have done a good job so far," Skinner said. "We're going to need to continue that and keep working together to get the results we want."

The Sharks erased another lead under five minutes later on a pretty passing play started on the zone entry by Macklin Celebrini, who spun at the blueline to find Mario Ferraro before his pass found Tyler Toffoli to fire past Calvin Pickard and make it 2-2 before the midway mark of the period.

Jeff Skinner added to Edmonton's show of depth and his first-period assist on Connor Brown's goal with a deceptive deflection past Georgi Romanov that restored their lead at 3-2 on his 15th goal of the season. Skinner now has six points (4G, 2A) over his last seven games, and his goal tonight held up as the game-winner for his first GWG of the season.

"I think in the last little, while I've felt pretty good with my game and clicking a little bit better with my linemates than maybe earlier in the season," Skinner said. "For myself, I think when you click as a line, you can play a little bit more on instinct and tonight's probably an example of that with Janny and Brownie. I thought they played great and I'm trying to read off them and they're always in the right spots and making good plays. It was fun to play with them tonight."

THIRD PERIOD

Calvin Pickard has been rock solid for the Oilers over four straight starts without Stuart Skinner available, and his game-defining moment in the last minute of regulation to seal the two points for his team with an incredible save was his best piece of work yet.

"He's a rock for us. He competes hard," Brown said of Pickard. "He deserved that win tonight and obviously I don't think we should be giving up those kind of opportunities late in the game, but he was there to bail us out again."

After Jeff Skinner hit the post on an empty net at the other end, Calvin Pickard would sprawl across to take away winger Collin Graf's terrific chance at tying the game in the last minute of regulation while the Sharks played at six-on-five, saving his best save for last to allow the Oilers to see out the win.

"I missed an empty net, so for me there might've been a little bit more going through my mind, but a nice job by Picks," Skinner said with a smile. "I think he was great all night, especially down the stretch there he made some big saves, but that one was probably the biggest. Happy to see him get the win."

The Oilers won their third straight game despite the significant absences of names like Connor McDavid, Mattias Ekholm, Stuart Skinner – and now maybe Leon Draisaitl again following his second-period exit – and it's taken some terrific efforts from their depth players to make it happen.

"It's big. Sometimes when guys go down, other guys get to step up and with a big playoffs coming up, it's good for guys to get some extra minutes and some reps," Brown said. "So who knows? Maybe it's a good thing as long as those guys are okay, which I'm sure they will be."