GAME RECAP: Sharks 5, Oilers 4

SAN JOSE, CA – The Oilers could not overcome a slow start on Saturday afternoon and dropped a 5-4 decision to the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center.

A sloppy opening frame resulted in Edmonton falling behind 3-1, and even though they battled back for 3-3 and 4-4 ties in the third period, San Jose survived to hand the Blue & Orange their fifth loss in six games and a 1-2-0 record on their California road trip. Despite scoring 17 goals on their trek through the Golden State, the Oilers were only able to bank two points.

"It is everybody," Leon Draisaitl said of the defensive struggles. "Everyone is making the wrong reads right now and maybe a little bit of fragile on our decision making. We've got to find a way to fix it."

"It's unfortunate," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch added. "You score three goals in this league, you win most of the time. Four, you should be winning. You shouldn't be forced to score five or six to win."

FIRST PERIOD

The opening frame was a Shark attack as the home side scored three times from Macklin Celebrini, Michael Misa and Barclay Goodrow to go up 3-1 through 20 minutes, with the lone Oilers goal coming from Draisaitl on the power play.

Edmonton earned an early PP when Kiefer Sherwood tripped Connor Ingram while buzzing by the crease, but it was San Jose who had more chances shorthanded, as the PK duo of Celebrini and Will Smith caused havoc for the Oilers man-advantage unit.

They didn't convert on those chances, but Celebrini was rewarded for his efforts as the breakout star for Canada at the recent Winter Olympics was able to score into an empty cage after Ingram left his crease to retrieve his stick and the Sharks stole the puck from the Oilers in the neutral zone.

San Jose then went on the PP after Spencer Stastney was called for hooking, and just before the penalty expired Misa was able to sneak a shot through Ingrams pads after the goaltender and Jake Walman had trouble locating and freezing the puck to end the potential threat.

The Oilers got their second PP of the afternoon with a much better result than their first attempt as Draisaitl and Connor McDavid executed a give-and-go play to perfection for the German superstar's 31st goal of the season. Draisaitl had two goals and two assists on the team's last four tallies going back to Thursday's 8-1 win in Los Angeles.

The Sharks re-established their two-goal cushion with 2:55 remaining in the frame as former Oilers defenceman John Klingberg's point shot hit a body in front and the puck went right to Goodrow for the bang-bang bury.

"The first 10 minutes, they were the better team," Knoblauch said. "And then we started to simplify our game a little bit more and spend a little more time in the offensive zone. More chances, but just too late."

SECOND PERIOD

The Smith-Celebrini-Sherwood line continued to create for the Sharks in the middle frame and drew a hooking penalty on Kasperi Kapanen just past the midway mark. The best chance of the ensuing PP came from the Oilers, though, as McDavid set up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for a one-timer, but Yaroslav Askarov slid across his crease for an impressive save.

The Oilers got back within a goal with just over four minutes to go in the period on another brilliant give-and-go play involving McDavid. The top line with the captain, Zach Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins, along with Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm on defence, put together a lengthy stay in the Sharks zone, with McDavid ultimately finding Bouchard cutting to the net for a top-shelf tally. The blueliner's 17th of the season cut the home team's lead to 3-2.

After some tentative moments in the first period, Ingram stopped all 14 shots he made in the second stanza, including a diving denial on Celebrini late in the frame to keep Edmonton within a goal heading into the final 20 minutes.

THIRD PERIOD

The Oilers carried their momentum in the third and tied the game at the 2:54 mark when Matt Savoie drove down the left side, cut behind the net and found Trent Frederic in front for a one-timer through Askarov's pads for his third goal of the season.

Unfortunately for the visitors, the deadlock didn't last long as Alexander Wennberg put the Sharks back up on a similar play three minutes later, with Kurashev finding him in front from behind the net.

The trading of goals continued just over a minute later as Jake Walman hammered home his third in the last four periods after two late ones in Los Angeles, receiving a pass from McDavid and blasting a slap-shot against his former squad to make it 4-4.

But San Jose simply refused to let the game stay tied as Shakir Mukhamadullin found the twine with a long shot through traffic just prior to the 10-minute mark of the period.

The Oilers loaded up their lines late in the game in search of yet another equalizer, and they drew a penalty with 1:12 remaining when Vincent Desharnais tripped his former Edmonton teammate Hyman.

The Blue & Orange called a timeout to plan their six-on-four strategy with the goalie pulled, and Draisaitl rang a one-timer off the crossbar after a pass from McDavid with 50 seconds to go. That was as close as they got, though, as Askarov made the last of his 20 saves to close out the slim decision.

The Oilers return home to host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday at Rogers Place.

"It starts with the leaders and goes from there," Darnell Nurse said. "There's some guys that stepped up and made some really good plays tonight, but there's too many mistakes by too many of us."