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Sharks look to stay undefated against Oilers

Oct 12, 2006 - 1:41 PM San Jose (3-0-0) at Edmonton (1-1-0) 10:00 pm EDT

EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) - The San Jose Sharks were a trendy preseason pick to win the Western Conference this season.

Even though it is still early in the campaign, the Sharks have looked the part and try to stay undefeated when they take on the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

San Jose has looked impressive in winning it first three games over St. Louis, the New York Islanders and Calgary while outscoring them by a combined 11-5.

The Sharks' latest triumph was a 4-1 road win over the Flames on Monday. Vesa Toskala looked sharp in making 29 saves while Steve Bernier, Christian Ehrhoff, Milan Michalek and Mark Smith scored.

Patrick Marleau had three assists for the Sharks, who went 2-for-6 on the power play and are 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) with the extra skater this season.

The Oilers have not been scored upon in 15 times shorthanded, which should make for an interesting battle between the clubs' special teams.

Edmonton, who surprisingly won the West last spring as an eighth seed, split a home-and-home series with Northwest Division rival Calgary to begin the season. The Oilers dropped a 2-1 decision to the Flames in Saturday's rematch.

Joffrey Lupul scored Edmonton's lone goal while goaltender Dwayne Roloson made 26 saves.