Oilers seize second in Pacific

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers moved into second place in the Pacific Division with a 3-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place on Thursday.
Connor McDavid had a goal and assist, and Patrick Maroon scored two goals for the Oilers (43-25-9), who lead the Sharks by two points for second and trail the Anaheim Ducks by one point for first in the division.
Cam Talbot made 38 saves for his 39th win of the season (39-21-8), one shy of the Edmonton record set by Grant Fuhr in 1987-88.

The Oilers, who have won seven straight games at home, host the Ducks on Saturday.
WATCH: All Sharks vs. Oilers highlights
"The guys are feeling pretty good," McDavid said. "Clinching that [Stanley Cup Playoff berth in a 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday] was big for us. The fans are behind us and that feels good. We're excited to come to the rink and excited to play the games. It's a good time to be an Oiler."
Jannik Hansen and Joe Pavelski scored, and Martin Jones made 19 saves for the Sharks (43-27-7), who have lost seven of their past eight games (1-7-0).
Hansen scored 1:01 into the game to give San Jose a 1-0 lead. He collected the rebound of a Paul Martin shot in front of the net and lifted a backhand shot over Talbot.

Maroon tied it 1-1 at 10:22 on a cross-crease pass from McDavid. With the assist, McDavid extended his point streak to an NHL career-high nine games.
McDavid scored the first shorthanded goal of his NHL career with 2:32 left in the first period to put Edmonton ahead 2-1.
"He's been doing that all year, he can take over a game whenever he wants when he feels the need," Maroon said. "He's been driving the bus all year. He's a true leader on the ice."
McDavid leads the NHL with 91 points (28 goals, 63 assists), seven more than Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks.

"We made a few mistakes and they're opportunistic, especially, obviously, McDavid," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "A couple of poor line changes in the first, and if he gets any kind of room at all, or you make a mistake when he's on the ice, [it's] got a good chance of ending up in the back of the net, and it did."
Maroon scored his second of the night, 27th of the season, at 7:51 of the third period to give the Oilers a 3-1 lead, tipping a point shot from defenseman Kris Russell past Jones.
Pavelski got his stick on Marc-Edouard Vlasic's shot from the point to redirect it past Talbot to make it 3-2 at 13:59.
The Sharks pressed for the tying goal but were unable to beat Talbot, who is third in wins this season, behind Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets (41) and Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals (40).
"[The Sharks] could be our first-round opponent or maybe our second-round opponent, you never know," Talbot said. "We definitely have to go through these teams to make a big splash in the playoffs and that's a big statement win for us."

Goal of the game

McDavid took a cross-ice pass from Leon Draisaitl, skated past Sharks defenseman Justin Braun, and set up Maroon in front for a tap-in.

Saves of the game

Talbot made the save on a tip in front by Melker Karlsson at 3:07 of the first period and then stopped the rebound attempt by Pavelski to keep San Jose from going up 2-0.

Unsung performance of the game

Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse had three shots on goal, one hit and one blocked shot in 15:37 of ice time.

Highlight of the game

With the Oilers shorthanded, McDavid took a pass from defenseman Oscar Klefbom at center ice, skated past Patrick Marleau at the Sharks blue line, and lifted a backhand shot over Jones on a breakaway.

They said it

"I thought we had a lot of jump, created a lot of chances, we get a goal. Obviously, you don't have to give him a lot of space for [Connor] McDavid to create something. He did that today, and I think he turned the game around a little bit." -- Sharks forward Jannik Hansen on McDavid's shorthanded goal, which put the Oilers ahead 2-1
"We got the start we wanted, we played a great 12 minutes, then they made a little push. It was a tough one to give up, I think, on the shorthanded one. That's on us as players. Both goals were maybe on line changes, just a couple of little breakdowns cost us tonight." -- Sharks captain Joe Pavelski
"He didn't seem to get excited over that one. That was a big goal for our team and I wanted to make sure he was awake and have more of a pulse than he did." -- Oilers captain Connor McDavid on the celebration following Patrick Maroon's first goal

Need to know

McLellan coached his 699th NHL game. … With the secondary assist on Maroon's goal, Draisaitl has four goals and 12 assists during a nine-game point streak. … Hansen had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. He had an assist on Pavelski's goal and fought Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson in the second period.

What's next

Sharks: At the Calgary Flames on Friday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, CSN-CA, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, PRIME, NHL.TV)