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EDMONTON -- The San Jose Sharks may not have been all that sharp to start after playing the night before, but that changed once the puck dropped for the second period. Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. "I think after back-to-back nights and not having a morning skate and things like that, youre probably going to be a little sluggish," said Sharks captain Joe Thornton, who had two assists on the night. "We continued to get better and better and it was a good way to end the night. As long as were moving around, moving the puck around, were going to be successful." Patrick Marleau and Marty Havlat also scored for the Sharks (47-18-9), who moved four points up on idle Anaheim for the Pacific Division lead and remained two points back of St. Louis for first in the Western Conference. San Jose clinched a playoff spot in a 2-1 shootout loss to Calgary on Monday. The Sharks power play came into the game ranked just 23rd in the league and had gone just three-for-35 in its last 10 games. They were 3-for-3 against the Oilers, a major factor in the victory. "The numbers arent that important, its when they come and how they come," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. "Weve had nights like this and it just hasnt gone in. When you look at the power play standings and the numbers and that type of stuff, you panic over it outside the room, but not inside the room. We finally got a reward for playing basically the same way that we have." "I think weve been bad for a long time and in the last few games weve created a little bit of momentum on it," said Pavelski, who had two of the power play goals for his club. "It hasnt been one game and then take a couple of games off, weve been consistent on our opportunities and tonight it just finally went in for us." David Perron and Taylor Hall responded for the second-to-last place Oilers (25-39-9), who have lost three in a row, including a humbling 8-1 loss to the rival Calgary Flames on Sunday on the heels of a 3-1 defeat to the last-place Buffalo Sabres. "We wanted to come back and play solid after our last couple games and get back to the stuff that we had been having some success with," said Oilers captain Andrew Ference. "The power play chances they got, they jumped on and put us behind the eight ball. I think our five-on-five hockey was light years better than our last game. That wasnt too tough to beat, though." Edmonton head coach Dallas Eakins said his team left far too many missed opportunities on the table. "We have to find a way to bury the chances that we have, and there were some that were just laying there in front of their net," he said. "You just have to find a way to put those in." Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens said the team remains very much a work in progress. "We need to show to ourselves that we can play the right way," he said. "I dont know what it is that we refuse to buy in completely. Its not one guy, a line, a defence pairing. Its just kind of waves throughout the team. Its not wanting to do what we have to do. We had some tough bounces tonight that probably added to the scoring differential. You cant give a team like that the chances on the power play because they have skilled guys who will make you pay and they did tonight." The Oilers started the scoring just over four minutes into the first period as Perron danced around Shark Tyler Kennedy before picking a perfect spot on a shot past San Jose goalie Antti Niemi. It was Perrons team-leading 26th goal of the season. The first period shots narrowly favoured the Sharks, who had 11 on Edmonton starter Scrivens to the Oilers 10 in the opening period. San Jose tied the game on the power play six-and-a-half-minutes into the second period. Scrivens made the initial stop on a shot from the slot by Marleau, but the rebound angled to Pavelski at the side of the net with a wide-open cage to put in his 35th of the year. Another power-play goal midway through the second period gave San Jose a 2-1 lead, as Pavelski chopped a puck to Marleau at the top of the opposite circle and the Sharks assistant captains lighting-quick release led to a goal before Scrivens could get across. It was Marleaus 31st goal of the year. The Sharks took a two-goal lead with 30 seconds left to play in the middle period as Edmonton defender Jeff Petry overskated a puck at his own blue-line, allowing Havlat to come in and send a wrist shot that beat Scrivens stick-side. San Jose scored their third man-advantage goal of the game just over a minute into the third period. Pavelski got the puck with space in the front of the net, waited for defender Andrew Ference to go down, and then beat Scrivens over the blocker to make it 4-1. Pavelski earned his third hat trick of the season with seven minutes left in the third as he took a shot that hit the stick of Edmontons Matt Hendricks and deflected into the Oilers net. Pavelskis four-point night gave him 71 points on the season. Edmonton made it look a little better with five minutes left to play as Hall picked up a rebound in front and hooked a diving backhand shot into the net for this 25th to make it 5-2. The Oilers have been outscored 16-4 in their last three home games. The Sharks return home to face the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. The Oilers play the fifth game of a six-game homestand on Friday against the Anaheim Ducks. Notes: It was the fourth of five games this season between the two teams this season. The Sharks won the first two games before the Oilers got one back in the most recent meeting on Jan. 29 when Ben Scrivens recorded a record-setting 59 saves in a 3-0 shutout win in Edmontona Both teams were coming off of losses to the Calgary Flames, although of vastly different degrees. The Oilers were embarrassed 8-1 by the provincial rival Flames at home on Sunday, while the Sharks lost a 2-1 game in Calgary on Monday in a shootouta Laurent Brossoit was called up from the AHL for the game to serve as the Oilers backup goalie after Viktor Fasth was injured in a collision in practice on Wednesdaya Oilers forward Nail Yakupov missed his fourth straight game with an ankle injurya Sharks forward Logan Couture was unable to play after he suffered a lower-body injury while blocking a shot in Wednesdays game in Calgary. Also out for the Sharks were forwards Tomas Hertl (knee) and Raffi Torres, both out with knee injuries. Defenceman Brad Stuart played his second game back since missing 13 games with an upper-body injurya Sharks winger Adam Burish left the game in the second period after taking a hard shot to his hand. Wayne Gretzky Jersey . The last team in the NBA that will have any sympathy for the Thunder is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are showing signs of putting everything together after two years of devastating injuries. Alex Goligoski Jersey . That assertion is getting harder and harder to make, especially given the way 23-year-old Danilo Gallinari has been playing this season. http://www.officialcoyotesfanstore.com/authentic-christian-fischer-coyotes-jersey/ . INJURIES - Reds RF Jay Bruce is facing knee surgery for a torn meniscus and it could cost him a month of playing time. Chris Heisey, who has shown some pop (43 home runs, . Kevin Connauton Jersey . Levante, which had lost five straight including a Copa del Rey game last weekend, fell behind at its Ciutat de Valencia stadium when Ionut Sapanura opened the scoring for Elche in the 26th minute. Keith Tkachuk Jersey . Rookie Marek Mazanec made 39 saves for his first NHL victory and the Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-2 Saturday night.MADISON, Wis. -- Traevon Jackson hit a pull-up jumper with 2.1 seconds left for Wisconsin, seconds after Michigan States Adreian Payne tied it with a three, and Wisconsin beat the ninth-ranked Spartans 60-58 on Sunday. The Badgers (19-5, 6-5 Big Ten) committed 14 turnovers, six more than their NCAA-leading 8.3 per game, but gutted out a win over the Spartans (20-4, 9-2). A desperation three by Michigan State from midcourt banged off the rim as time expired, and the Wisconsin faithful erupted with applause. The victory snapped a three-game losing skid at home. Tied at 58, coach Bo Ryan again put the ball in the hands of Jackson, who has a history of hitting clutch shots. With a man in his face, Jackson veered left of the lane and pulled up from about 10 feet to give Wisconsin the lead in a frenetic final minute. Nigel Hayes led Wisconsin with 14 points, while Sam Dekker added 11. Payne had 24 points. Travis Trice added 13 points for Michigan State, though Big Ten-leading scorer Gary Harris was held to six points on 3-of-20 shooting after being shadowed most of the afternoon by defensive specialist Josh Gasser. And yet Michigan State still had a chance late, even with guard Keith Appling sitting out a second straight game with a wrist injury. Harris long bucket with about 23 seconds left -- one of his few bright spots on the afternoon -- got the Spartans within three. Wisconsin had a chance to turn it into a two-possession game, but Ben Brust missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Michigan State secured the rebound and called timeout. Coach Tom Izzo drew up a play that ended up with Payne holding the ball. He had burned Wisconsinn much of the night on the inside.dddddddddddd This time Payne hit from the outside with 10 seconds left and the Badgers faithful thought they were witnessing another late collapse at home. The loss to Ohio State more than a week ago ended up about the same way. But Jackson, who has struggled much of the last month during Wisconsins stretch of losing five of six, came up big. He finished with eight assists and seven points, but had five turnovers. Wisconsin led by double-digits much of the second half. Things got shaky late. After two empty Wisconsin possessions, the Spartans raced down in transition and Trice hit a 3 from the wing to get within 55-52 with 1:43 left. They just couldnt break through in the end. A five-game winning streak over Wisconsin came to an end. Payne finished 9 of 16 from the field in his second game, and first start, since returning from a foot injury. Gasser finished with 11 points and six rebounds for the Badgers. His straightaway three with 6:33 left gave the Badgers a huge lift and a six-point lead that was slowly chipped away by the Spartans. But Gasser gave his team an ever bigger lift with his defence on the crafty Harris. The Badgers finished the first half on an 11-0 run to take a 30-22 lead at the break. A crowd overwhelmingly dressed in Wisconsin red groaned after Gasser came up holding his left arm after being whistled for a blocking foul. Jackson pulled up for a foul-line jumper in transition to get the crowd at the Kohl Center going into a fever pitch and a three-point lead. They eventually got to witness Wisconsins first home win since beating Illinois by 25 on Jan. 8. ' ' '