Fired up Oilers pounce on Predators

EDMONTON — Devan Dubnyk, after an impressive night’s work in the Edmonton Oilers net Sunday, said his only thought when he watched Sergei Kostitsyn wander over to the Nashville Predators bench was “thank you.”

He had no idea what the point man was thinking when he let the puck get behind him, nor did Oilers centre Sam Gagner, who promptly headed up ice on a short- handed breakaway with Lennart Petrell.

Gagner, the Oilers’ leading scorer, threw the puck over to Petrell, who unleashed a wicked one- timer that gave the Oilers a 2- 1 lead and the momentum they had so desperately been seeking in the meeting with the Predators at Rexall Place.

They went on to score a 3- 2 victory over the visitors while ratcheting up their record to 11- 11- 6. They are now 3- 0- 1 since they were smoked 6- 0 by the Predators on March 8. With the win, the Oilers moved into 10th spot in the Western Conference, two points back of the playoff cutoff line.

Shea Weber, with a slapshot on a second- period power play, and Roman Josi, with a lastsecond goal, scored for the Predators.

“That was a painful goal for us,” Predators head coach Barry Trotz said of the second shorthanded goal his club has surrendered this season. “I can’t give you a logical explanation for an illogical event.”

The Oilers, meanwhile, now have four short- handed goals, third- best in the National Hockey League behind the New Jersey Devils ( eight) and Buffalo Sabres ( five).

“If you can have that offensive threat on your penalty kill, I know from the other side, it’s something you think about,” said Gagner, “so maybe you don’t make as many plays up top when you know that teams are good offensively.”

The Predators, an offensively challenged team at the best of times, limped into Edmonton without Colin Wilson, Patric Hornqvist and Paul Gaustad and an expanded list of forwards who are struggling to produce. On top of that, they allowed a total of 13 goals to the Vancouver Canucks and the Calgary Flames before they showed up at Rexall Place.

Still, the Oilers didn’t do much early to test goaltender Pekka Rinne, who saw just six shots in the first 20 minutes and none on the Oilers first power play of the game.

“We have a game plan and the type of game we want to play. It’s just a matter of building on that and getting better at it. I think we’ve started to do that,” said the Oilers’ Jordan Eberle, who scored his first goal since Feb. 23, his seventh of the season. His third- period marker was the game winner.

Dubnyk finished with 29 saves and his eighth win of the season.