Oilers look to move on from OT thriller

SAN JOSE, CALIF. In the middle of the second period, the Edmonton Oilers’ body language was so bad that the team looked like dead men skating.

At that point, you’d never have expected them to arrive here Friday afternoon up 3-2 in their Western Conference quarterfinal series against the San Jose Sharks with a chance to send last year’s Stanley Cup finalist to tee times at Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill or Spanish Bay.

On Wednesday, the challenge was parking the 7-0 humiliation in Game 4, the most lopsided loss in Oilers playoff history.

On Friday, the problem was to park one of the most memorable overtime victories in the storied history of the fivetime Stanley Cup champions. And if they have any aspirations of moving deep into their first playoffs since going to Game 7 of the 2006 final, it might be advised.

The Anaheim Ducks are now 15-0-3 in their last 18 games after sweeping the Calgary Flames and have a week off.

The team may have to park that game, but Oilers fans are going to want to take Thursday night’s overtime and frame it, bottle it or otherwise try to preserve it forever.

The night David Desharnais won it may end up ranking right up there with the most memorable of all Oilers moments if they go on to win the series and double down on their acquired playoff experience the first time in.

But the memory of this overtime won’t be restricted to the shot from the high slot by Desharnais that won it at 18:15 of the extra session. What will be remembered will be almost the entire overtime. I’ve never witnessed one like it.

It was like the Sharks ran out of petrol on the way back to the ice for OT. The Oilers had chance after chance, outshooting San Jose 14-2.