Oilers beat Sharks 3-2 despite losing Draisaitl to undisclosed injury

The Edmonton Oilers beat the San Jose Sharks despite the absence of several key players, and one leaving in the second period with an apparent injury.

SAN JOSE — Jeff Skinner tipped in the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and the Edmonton Oilers overcame an injury to Leon Draisaitl and beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 on Thursday night.

Skinner scored just a few minutes after Draisaitl went to the locker room with an undisclosed injury. He never returned to the game. Coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game that he had no update on the severity of the injury.

Connor Brown and Viktor Arvidsson also scored to give the Oilers their third straight win. Calvin Pickard made 27 saves.

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Edmonton kept pace with Los Angeles in the race for second place in the Pacific Division and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Oilers trail the Kings by two points headed into their game Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Jack Thompson and Tyler Toffoli scored for San Jose. Georgi Romanov made 35 saves.

Takeaways

Oilers: Edmonton is already without star Connor McDavid, who has been sidelined since getting hurt March 20 and can ill afford another key injury with the playoffs starting in a little more than two weeks. Draisaitl, who leads the NHL with 52 goals this season, missed four games last month with an undisclosed injury.

Sharks: San Jose is winless in its last four games and remains in last place in the NHL after losing the first of three meetings with the Oilers in the final two weeks of the season.

Key moment

Pickard slid across his crease to make a key save against Collin Graf from point-blank range in the final minute to preserve the 3-2 lead.

Key stat

Mario Ferraro had two assists and has points in three straight games for San Jose. It was his second multipoint game of the season with the other coming Jan. 23 against Nashville.

Up next

The Oilers visit Los Angeles on Saturday night and the Sharks host Seattle.

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Josh Dubow, The Associated Press