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Souray, Cogliano help Oilers edge Lightning

Feb 25, 2009 - 6:10 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- The Edmonton Oilers used a strong offensive showing to get back to their winning ways.

All-Star defenseman Sheldon Souray scored twice and Andrew Cogliano recorded a goal and an assist as the Oilers snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3, on Tuesday.

Erik Cole and blue-liner Jason Strudwick also tallied and Dwayne Roloson made 26 saves for Edmonton, which had been held to three goals or fewer in each of its previous five contests.

"This was huge for us to get the momentum moving forward, especially after the last three games," Oilers center Sam Gagner said. "We had a couple mistakes, but we also did a lot of things right.

"A lot of guys stepped up in here. It was a character win. Hopefully we can build on it."

Defenseman Cory Murphy netted a pair of goals and rookie Steven Stamkos also scored in support of Karri Ramo's 40-save performance for the Lightning, who have dropped five of six.

"You can't make excuses," Ramo said. "You need to be ready to play when the game starts, but we had a long traveling day and we knew that the Oilers were coming hard and maybe we were a little bit asleep there.

"I felt a little bit off there at the start. It was my fault, I need to take care of myself and be ready to play. We battled through it. They played a good game."

Cole and Strudwick tallied in a span of 3 minutes, 20 seconds early in the first period to give the Oilers the upper hand.

"Every game is important right now," Cole said. "It doesn't matter who you're playing. It's that time of year where you can't be squandering points. We needed a win, especially coming off a game where we blew two points in the final minute."

Tampa Bay came roaring back, however, as Murphy struck at 2:30 of the second period by firing a slap shot from the slot that sailed past Roloson.

Selected first overall in last June's draft, Stamkos registered his 11th tally of the season with 7:33 remaining in the session to forge a tie. Edmonton did not waste much time regaining its lead, though.

"We started well and then let them back into the game," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "We started playing a style of game that was probably the only style that could lead to us getting beat.

"It was a win. It was more stressful than it needed to be, but we move on to face Columbus in a better position than we were to start the night."

Souray gave Edmonton a 3-2 advantage with a slap shot from above the left faceoff circle just 52 seconds later.

Cogliano provided some insurance with a wrister at 2:20 of the third, but Murphy's backhander from the doorstep kept the Lightning's comeback hopes alive.

"We made a battle of it at the end, let in a couple of goals early that affected us, but we finally got our legs in the second and third," Tampa Bay interim coach Rick Tocchet said. "We were down, 2-0, and you come back and make a game of it. Hopefully that goes a long way."

Souray secured the victory with an empty-netter with two seconds left.