Sharks rally, edge Oilers in shootout

The San Jose Sharks avoided a three-game skid in dramatic fashion Wednesday.

Dan Boyle scored the shootout winner as the Sharks rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period for a 4-3 victory against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place.

Logan Couture had a pair of goals and Tommy Wingels also scored in regulation for the Sharks (13-10-6), who have now won just twice in their past eight games.

Indeed, it was a huge win for the Sharks, who have been surrounded by trade rumors over the past few weeks.

"Nothing's changed … we're here to play hockey," Couture said. "We're all on the San Jose Sharks right now. Until someone tells us otherwise, we're going to play for the San Jose Sharks as hard as we can and do whatever we can to get points.

"Nothing in this room has changed. We don't listen to what people say outside of this locker room – we haven't for the four years I've been here."

Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Jones scored for Edmonton (11-11-7), which has earned eight points in its past five contests.

"It is very disappointing losing the penalty shots," Oilers coach Ralph Krueger said. "We are a good team at that.

"It's painful, but we have to look at the fact that we have points in five games and move forward. But right now, of course the pain of giving up a 3-1 lead dominates."

The Oilers scored first midway through the opening period via the power play as Nail Yakupov fed the puck across the ice to Gagner, who had time to rip a slap shot from the top of the circle that beat Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi glove-side. It was Gagner's 12th goal of the season.

San Jose tied up the game with just under six minutes to play in the opening period as the puck popped loose from under Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk in a scramble in front and Couture was there to hammer it in on the doorstep.

The Sharks had the best opportunity in the first half of the second period as Joe Pavelski rang a shot off the post in the opening minute.

Edmonton went up 2-1 with eight minutes left to play in the second period. Nick Schultz picked up a pass as he stepped on to the ice from the penalty box and raced in on a 2-on-1 before feeding it across to a streaking Horcoff, who slapped it in at the side of the net.

The Oilers went up 3-1 four minutes into the third period as Jones picked the pocket of defender Matt Irwin behind the San Jose net and hooked around front to send the puck through Niemi's legs.

"It's just tough," Jones said. "Not only did we need the two points, I thought we deserved them for the most part."

The Sharks pulled back to within one three minutes later on the power play as they were able to send the puck out of a scrum in front of the Oiler net to Couture, who sent his second of the game and 14th of the season through traffic and past Dubnyk.

"He gets excited to play here in Edmonton, I don't know why," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of Couture. "Six shots on goal, a couple of goals, an amazing shot [in the shootout]. … I'm really proud of him and we're happy to have him."

San Jose then tied the game with 10:45 remaining in the third as a puck found Wingels, who sent a quick wrist shot into the net to make it 3-3 and eventually send the game to overtime.

The Oilers were without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who is suffering from the flu. Teemu Hartikainen took Nugent-Hopkins' place in the lineup.

Sharks forward Ryane Clowe missed the game with a shoulder injury.

Material from wire services and team media was used in this report.