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Monday, Apr. 3 9:00pm ET
Sharks within two points of sixth place | |||||
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EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- A goalie can carry a team in the playoffs. Steve Shields just hopes to get the chance. Shields made 20 saves for his fourth shutout this season and Niklas Sundstrom scored a short-handed goal at 4:37 of the third period, leading the San Jose Sharks to a 1-0 victory Monday night over the Edmonton Oilers. "Sometimes you're counted on to make some saves, and a lot of time, you're going to get the opportunity to make them," Shields said. "Tonight I had the chance to make a couple of saves. It's great to be able to contribute." The Sharks, with 83 points, have a three-point lead in the Western Conference over ninth-place Vancouver for the final playoff position. Edmonton is in seventh place with 84 points. "I felt great with the way the guys were playing; defensively we really limited them," Shields said. "We did a good job and when they did get the chances, I was there to make the save. There wasn't any rebounds so that makes a big difference when you have to focus on making the one save." Oilers goalie Tommy Salo was pitching his own shutout into the third period, but was beaten by Sundstrom, who was set up by Mike Ricci on his 12th goal. Edmonton lost the puck in its own end and Sundstrom jammed it past Oilers goalie Tommy Salo for the Sharks' 15th short-handed goal this season, matching the Detroit Red Wings for the NHL high. "We managed to clog up the middle a bit," San Jose assistant coach Bob Berry said. "When you can put pressure in the other team's end, obviously it takes a lot of pressure off what you have to do in our end. Ricci and Sundstrom made a great play on it." The Oilers had a chance to tie the game, with under six minutes left, when forwards Todd Marchant and Ethan Moreau broke in on a 2-on-1, but Moreau could not beat Shields up high. "He (Marchant) opened up pretty early and you could tell he was trying to get it over our defenseman's stick," Shields said. "He was out a little far and I know he likes to come in and look to go low far side. So I really wasn't expecting him to shoot." Moments later, Oilers defenseman Roman Hamrlik skated right in front of the net but also failed to beat Shields. "That was a better chance, because he did what he wanted to do and I had to get around the guys that were in front to get a good look," Shields said. The Oilers were called for seven minor penalties against San Jose. They entered the game ranked eighth in the NHL in penalty killing at nearly 86 percent. "You look at the all the top penalty-killing teams in the league and they take some of the fewest penalties," Marchant said. "We're in the top 10, and we've taken just about the most. You can't do that. "Not every penalty is a bad penalty but you can only take three or four, you can't take seven, eight and nine. Especially at this time of the year." San Jose, which was 2-1-1 this season against Edmonton, snapped a three-game winless streak. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard San Jose Clubhouse Edmonton Clubhouse RECAPS Buffalo 3 Toronto 2
San Jose 1 AUDIO/VIDEO   Niklas Sundstrom scores a short-handed goal for San Jose.avi: 547 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   | |||||