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Roloson helps Oilers drill Maple Leafs

Mar 8, 2009 - 4:59 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Dwayne Roloson made 39 saves and Kyle Brodziak scored two goals as the Edmonton Oilers posted a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Ales Hemsky recorded a goal and an assist and Fernando Pisani also tallied for the Oilers, who improved to 3-4-2 in their last nine games.

"They were just throwing pucks at the net and a lot of times I was not in a position to control the rebounds so you have to give our defense a lot of credit tonight," Roloson said. "They knocked rebounds away and got them to safe areas."

Alexei Ponikarovsky netted a power-play goal 68 seconds into the second period for Toronto, which had won five of its previous six.

"We weren't able to get to any rebounds," Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson said. "They did a nice job in their own end and kept us out of the middle. Roloson made a lot of stops. I am not disappointed with the effort. We had some bad turnovers in the neutral zone and they made us pay the price."

Edmonton used a second-period surge to avoid losing five straight away from home for the first time since a nine-game skid from February 25-April 5, 2007.

"It's unbelievable because of the tight race we are in," Brodziak said. "We felt we didn't play our best game in Ottawa and tonight is a big relief for us and hopefully it can re-energize our team."

Hemsky forged a tie 21 seconds after Ponikarovsky struck and Brodziak gave the Oilers a lead they would not relinquish, firing a wrist shot from the slot that sailed by Martin Gerber at 8:34 of the session.

"Any time you can score right after the other team scores, especially Ales who is underrated," Roloson said. "He does a lot for this team and he's one of the biggest focal points for us and he's playing great hockey."

Pisani ballooned the bulge to 3-1 with 9:15 remaining in the second and Brodziak secured the victory by unleashing a wrist shot from the high slot with 28 seconds left in the third for an empty-net tally.

"We were fortunate to get a few breakaways and bury them," Brodziak said. "That's pretty much the story of the game that we capitalized on the chances we had and the chances they had, Dwayne shut them down."

Gerber stopped 14 shots in his second game with Toronto since being claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.