Smyth, Hemsky lift Oilers past Sharks in shootout

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- Ryan Smyth made the most of his one

shot.

Smyth and Ales Hemsky scored shootout goals Monday night,

lifting the Edmonton Oilers to a 2-1 victory over the San Jose

Sharks.

"You never critique a win, but there is no question we can get

better," said Smyth, who didn't register a shot in 22 minutes, 20

seconds of real play. "It was a scrambling game."

Oilers rookie Mike Morrison stopped 21 shots and then turned

aside Niko Dimitrakos, who shot wide of the net, and Jonathan

Cheechoo in the shootout. Only Marco Sturm got a shot past him in

the tiebreaker as the Sharks lost their sixth straight game, two in

a row by shootout.

Morrison, 2-0 this season in four games, also looked solid in

making a post-to-post save off defenseman Jim Fahey's second-period

one-timer. The Oilers improved to 2-0 in games decided by shootout.

"They are kind of a grinding, fast in-the-corners,

throw-it-to-the-net type of team," Morrison said. "That's two

games, and I hope I get another opportunity."

To hear Oilers coach Craig MacTavish talk, he just might.

"He's making it easy to play him again," MacTavish said.

"We'll just see how far he can take us."

Patrick Marleau scored on a second-period power play for San

Jose with Oilers center Mike Peca off for holding.

San Jose (8-8-4) is on its longest losing streak since a

seven-game skid from Dec. 26, 1995-Jan. 10, 1996. Three of the

losses in this run were by shootout.

"We have outplayed a lot of teams, just not buried chances,"

Sharks forward Scott Thornton said. "It's got to be just a matter

of time."

Marty Reasoner tied it for the Oilers late in the second period.

Edmonton outshot the Sharks 10-3 in a scoreless first.

"It was not a game you're going to put a frame around,"

MacTavish said. "But it's nice to come out of it with two

points."

Evgeni Nabokov made 20 saves for the Sharks but dropped to 0-4

since returning from a shoulder injury.

"There wasn't much flow, but I was happy with our play

defensively," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said.

Game notes
All of Edmonton's 22 division, conference and Stanley Cup

championship banners were replaced in a pregame ceremony. ... Peca,

who hasn't scored in 18 games, had an open shot in the second

period but defenseman Rob Davison got his stick in the way to

prevent what appeared to be a certain goal. ... Edmonton's run of

eight consecutive sellouts ended.