GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Sharks 2

EDMONTON, AB – X marks the playoff spot.

The Edmonton Oilers are officially headed back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth consecutive season after defeating the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Friday at Rogers Place, fittingly on the team's annual Fan Appreciation Night.

Connor McDavid continued his triumphant return to the lineup with four assists after putting up three on Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues, while Corey Perry scored the eventual winning goal on the power play in the third period.

"It's been up and down, but that X is beside our name and that's step one," Perry said of clinching. "That's what we talk about... you come to training camp, step one is to make the playoffs, and then step two is to get in and get going and see where we can go from there. It's nice to have that beside our name right now."

McDavid's seven points this week have catapulted him up to 97 on the season with three games remaining on the schedule to secure his eighth-career 100-point campaign.

"Remarkable," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said of the captain. "Coming back and playing at the level he has. And the one goal that we scored that he didn't get an assist on was in fact started with him. He drew a penalty... He's been a big boost to our team, that's an understatement. But to play at the level he's been playing has been a huge advantage for our team."

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers earned an early power play when 2024 first-overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini hooked Evan Bouchard. They were unsuccessful on their first man advantage, but they got another soon thereafter and converted this time as Bouchard blasted home his 14th of the season.

The blueliner's patented bomb from the point following a drop-pass from McDavid deflected off a Sharks defender and past an off-balance Alexandar Romanov between the pipes to draw first blood for the home side. Adam Henrique also picked up an assist after winning the faceoff, as the goal came just six seconds into the power play.

McDavid picked up his second assist of the period at the 15:41 mark when he set up Ty Emberson's first goal as an Oiler to extend Edmonton's lead to 2-0. The home side was in the midst of an extended possession in the Sharks zone when the captain darted down the left side and found the former Shark cutting to the net on the opposite wing for a one-timer tap-in past Romanov.

The celebration was short-lived on that goal, though, as San Jose's other rookie sensation Will Smith got the Sharks on the board 1:32 after Emberson's tally when he fired a shot from the top of the circle that snuck past Calvin Pickard's blocker for his 18th of the season.

Edmonton took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, but it wasn't all good news for the Blue & Orange as Mattias Ekholm played just two shifts and logged 1:25 of ice time before departing for the dressing room in his first game back in the lineup since March 26.

SECOND PERIOD

The Oilers entered the middle frame with Ekholm still absent and the Sharks tallied the 2-2 equalizer 5:44 into the period when Henry Thrun threw a puck on net from the left wall that bounced off the skate of Darnell Nurse and past Pickard.

The home side generated two more power plays and finished the period up 27-16 in shots on goal, but the score remained knotted at two tallies apiece heading into the third.

Bouchard and Connor Brown each had four shots through 40 minutes, while the defenceman also led all skaters with 17:57 TOI as the Oilers were once again playing with five defencemen.

During the intermission, the team announced that both Ekholm and Zach Hyman would not be returning for the third period.

"Something that he's been playing through and we didn't want to push it any farther," Knoblauch said when asked after the game about the unexpected nature of Hyman's ailment.

THIRD PERIOD

Despite being down to 11 forwards and five defencemen for the final 20 minutes, the Oilers continued to apply pressure on the young Sharks squad.

Just past the three-minute mark of the period, Max Jones came within inches of regaining the Oilers lead when his wrist shot hit Romanov's glove, struck the bottom half of the crossbar and ricocheted out of the crease.

Corey Perry got the job done with the team's second power-play goal of the night on their fifth opportunity at the 7:32 mark, redirecting a McDavid pass up and through Romanov as the Oilers captain collected his third helper of the game.

The soon-to-be 40-year-old and future Hall of Famer's 17th of the season had the Oilers back in the lead as they looked to lock down their post-season berth.

And it was mission accomplished when Connor Brown buried the empty-netter with 26 seconds to go, giving McDavid his fourth helper of the night and Nurse his 300th career point.

Bouchard finished with one goal, one assist and a game-high 28:24 TOI, while Henrique picked up two helpers and Pickard made 22 saves for his fifth win in his last six starts.

"It's good to win and it's good to make it official that we're going back to the playoffs," the netminder said. "We've got three games left to keep playing the right way. The guys in the room here, we've got to take care of business and hopefully everybody gets healthy."

The banged-up Oilers will hop on a plane to Winnipeg on Saturday afternoon for a clash with the NHL-leading Jets on Sunday and the start of a brutal back-to-back as they return home Monday to take on their most likely first-round playoff opponent for the fourth year in a row, the Los Angeles Kings.