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Roloson, Pisani combine to end Sharks' winning streak

Mar 17, 2008 - 5:03 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) - It took an incredible effort from Dwayne Roloson to help the Edmonton Oilers end the 11-game winning streak of the San Jose Sharks.

Roloson recorded a season-high 48 saves and Fernando Pisani scored the game-winning goal in the fourth round of a shootout to power the Oilers to a 2-1 win over the Sharks on Sunday.

After Robert Nilsson scored in the first round of the shootout, it appeared that Roloson would continue his near-flawless performance after he easily denied Joe Pavelski and Jeremy Roenick.

However, captain Patrick Marleau extended the bonus format one more round when he used a lefthanded wrist shot to slide the puck past the netminder to knot the shootout at 1-1.

But it was just not meant to be for the Sharks. Roloson made a glove save on Jonathan Cheechoo to start the fourth round, leaving Pisani the opportunity to beat All-Star goaltender Evgeni Nabokov with a wrist shot that trickled past his pads and into the net.

"They played a great game and we did well defensively," Roloson said. "We kept them to the outside for most of the night, which was great. I was able to see a lot of them (shots) - some of them I wasn't able to see.

"I just tried to get in position and it's just one of those things. I just focused on what I had to do and not really paying attention to anything else."

Pisani also had the game-winning goal in regulation on February 14 at San Jose, the last time the Sharks lost a home game.

"Its one of those things where we've got great goaltending as of late and both times we've played them (San Jose)," Pisani said. "They've got some guys that can put the puck in the net.

"Rolly (Roloson) made huge saves at key moments of the time and I think, for the most part, we did a good job of playing good defensive zone hockey in our own end and try to keep them to the outside and not give them those great opportunities in the slot."

Ales Hemsky also scored a power-play goal in the second period for the Oilers, who are 5-1-0 over their last six games.

"We're playing better and we relied on some good goaltending tonight but you have to win games that way and we're a confident group going forward here," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said.

Roloson turned away double-digit shots in each period, including 19 in the opening 20 minutes. He won his second consecutive start after being used only as a backup to Mathieu Garon in the past six weeks.

"It doesn't play into anything," Roloson said. "For me, it's just giving our guys a chance to win and that's it. I can't control what the coaching staff says about who's playing so I just focus on what I've got to do."

"We had more than enough chances to win, we've just got to bear down around the net." Sharks right wing Mike Grier said. "Even though he was making one stop (after another), we felt like we were going to get more chances, but he played well."

Nabokov turned back 23 shots and Marleau scored his 16th goal of the season with 2:05 remaining in the first period for San Jose.

Even though they lost for the first time since February 20, the Sharks don't plan on dwelling on the setback too long.

"We've had a lot of fun here," Sharks left wing Jody Shelley said. "But it's funny you win all those games, it doesn't matter. You're still disappointed with the loss. But we know we've done a good thing here and we've got a big game coming up Tuesday in (Los Angeles) and we're going to get ready for that."

When the streak began on February 21, the Sharks were in fifth place in the Western Conference, 19 points behind the Detroit Red Wings and trailing the Anaheim Ducks by five points in the Pacific Division.

After Sunday's overtime loss, San Jose leads the Ducks by three points and is only seven points behind Detroit for the best record in the NHL.

"We had points in 12 straight games, and we're in great position," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "With an extra point tonight (and) a little bit of luck, we might be able to reel Detroit in. But you want to keep on plugging and win the games at hand."