  Edmonton Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson (centre) is surrounded by teammates after defeating the San Jose Sharks 2-0 in Game 6 of their Western Conference semi-final playoff series in Edmonton on Wednesday, May 17, 2006. (Edmonton Sun/Darryl Dyck) |
There'll be no rest for the weary, but if it's all the same to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the Edmonton Oilers will happily get horizontal later and enjoy the playoffs for at least one more round.
With the Mighty Ducks having kicked back since eliminating the Colorado Avalanche a week ago, the Oilers advanced to the third round for the first time since 1992 and kept a date in the Western Conference finale with a 2-0 win over the San Jose Sharks at Rexall Place last night.
In a comeback from a 0-2 series deficit that was equal parts Dwayne Roloson, great penalty killing and opportunistic scoring, the Oilers reeled off four straight wins to get it done and earn themselves a ticket to the Arrowhead Pond for Game 1 tomorrow.
They're having too much fun to be tired.
"It feels good because we're getting a step closer," said Michael Peca, who scored what would stand as the winning goal behind Roloson's first career playoff shutout.
"We gave ourselves the opportunity to take one more step toward our goal ... once we figured out the type of series we needed to play to be successful, we really took over."
Having dispensed of the Detroit Red Wings in six games in the opening round, the Oilers did likewise to the Sharks thanks to Peca's goal 8:21 into the game and another stellar performance by Roloson, who frustrated the Sharks again and made it stand up with 24 saves.
"Right now, we can't wait to get the next series started," said Shawn Horcoff, who provided Roloson some insurance with the 2-0 goal with just over eight minutes to play.
"It's something we've all believed in, that we could get there.
"Now that it's here, we want to make the most of it. We'll get some rest tomorrow and get right back at it."
The Oilers got the better of Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan in the opening round and Hart Trophy finalist Joe Thornton, 56-goal man Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau in this series.
Last night, it was a post-game flight to Disney's doorstep, where they'll face Teemu Selanne and the Mighty Ducks in a final nobody predicted when the post-season began.
"Obviously, we're very happy," said Steve Staios. "We got it done and that's what we wanted to do.
"We don't have much time to turn around. I don't feel too bad right now.
"I might feel tired in the morning, but right now it feels great. There's a real sense of accomplishment, but it's pretty down to earth because we're only halfway to where we want to go."
In an encore of the first period of Sunday's 6-3 win at HP Pavilion, the Oilers paraded to the sin bin in the opening 20 minutes, but the Sharks got nothing but more frustration on four power-play attempts.
Peca parlayed generous use of his stick and dogged pursuit of a loose puck to outmuscle Scott Hannan and strip him of the rubber before waltzing in on goal and beating Vesa Toskala.
The Oilers afforded the Sharks two more cracks on the power play in the second, but Roloson, aided by a goalpost on a Matt Carle shot late in the period, gave up nothing to keep it 1-0 through 40 minutes.
When Horcoff made it 2-0, banking a puck past Toskala after some great hustle and pressure on the forecheck by Ryan Smyth and Todd Harvey, the countdown was on.
"That's OK," shrugged Peca, asked about getting just 24 hours to gear up for the Mighty Ducks. "We've done a good job keeping the minutes down for our forwards. We're fresh. We're not letting down."
AROUND THE RINK: the Oilers outscored San Jose 9-2 in third periods of the series ... Horcoff excelled in the faceoff circles again last night, going 21-17 as the Oilers schooled the Sharks 45-28 on the dot.
