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Sharks-Oilers Preview

Mar 20, 2010 - 7:01 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

San Jose (43-18-10) at Edmonton (22-42-7), 8:00 p.m. EDT

With San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan admitting that his team's confidence is shaken, this appears to be a perfect time for a trip to Edmonton.

Trying to avoid losing six straight games for the first time in more than four years, the slumping Sharks seek their seventh consecutive victory over the lowly Oilers on Sunday night.

San Jose (43-18-10) is still in the mix for first place in the Western Conference, but it hasn't been playing like a Stanley Cup contender lately. The Sharks have been outscored 22-11 in losing the last five with the last four coming in regulation.

"Teams see that we've lost four or five games in a row and any time that happens, a team is vulnerable," McLellan said after Friday's 4-3 loss at Calgary. "You can feel the confidence in our room isn't what it should be or can be, but we've got to earn that back."

Things have been particularly bad for San Jose on the road. The Sharks have lost the first four on this six-game trip and have dropped six of seven away from San Jose following an eight-game road winning streak.

"We're obviously a good hockey team," San Jose forward Ryane Clowe said. "We've put ourselves into a good position. We just have to get out of this and bounce back."

A game against Edmonton might be the best way for San Jose to get back on track.

The Sharks, who haven't lost six straight since going 0-7-3 from Nov. 5-30, 2005, have outscored the Oilers 23-11 in winning the last six meetings since a 3-2 overtime loss Dec. 6, 2008. Patrick Marleau, who has a team and career-high 41 goals, leads San Jose during this winning streak with nine goals and three assists.

Marleau and the Sharks haven't been finding the back of the net with much regularity lately, but that could change in Edmonton. The league-worst Oilers (22-41-7) have allowed an NHL-worst 247 goals and have yielded at least four scores in five of their last six games.

The Oilers are coming off a rare win - just their sixth in 31 games - but nearly gave it away.

Edmonton was leading Detroit 2-1 on Friday until Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski scored on a scramble in front of the net with just two-tenths of a second left. The game went to a shootout and Gilbert Brule scored the winner in the third round to give the Oilers a 3-2 victory, snapping a five-game skid.

Detroit's late goal didn't come as a surprise to Edmonton coach Pat Quinn, whose team was outshot 17-3 in the third period.

"We did what a bottom-place team does: We backed off and gave them lots of room at the end," he said.

Still, the Oilers did enough to help rookie Devan Dubnyk get his first win in 14 appearances this season.

Dubnyk, who has allowed at least four goals in eight of his 11 starts, was in net in Edmonton's last game against the Sharks on Jan. 16, making 32 saves in a 4-2 loss.

San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov has been solid between the pipes for much of the season, but has looked shaky lately, posting a 4.12 goals-against average in the team's last four games. He's fared much better against the Oilers, recording a 1.77 GAA in winning the last five meetings.