Oilers Clinch Playoff Berth With 5-4 Victory

The Edmonton Oilers clinched the NHL’s final playoff berth Monday with a dramatic 5-4 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks at San Jose.

Rookie defenseman Tom Poti scored the game-winning goal with 65 seconds remaining. Edmonton’s Doug Weight gained control behind the net and centered in front to Poti, who came down from the right point and snapped a shot inside the left post to send Edmonton into the postseason for the third consecutive season after a four-year absence.

Vancouver 2, Calgary 0--Garth Snow made 41 saves and Dave Gagner scored late in the third period as the Canucks won at Calgary, Canada.

Gagner’s goal at 13:43 of the third period, his first goal in 23 games, broke a scoreless tie.

New York Islanders 4, New Jersey 2--Felix Potvin stopped 55 of the Devils’ franchise-record 57 shots in leading the Islanders to a victory at East Rutherford, N.J.

New Jersey, which trails Eastern Conference-leading Ottawa by two points, did not lose ground to the Senators, who lost to Florida.

New Jersey’s old record for shots in a game was 54, accomplished three times, the last time on Oct. 30, 1996 in a 6-1 loss to the New York Rangers.

Florida 2, Ottawa 0--Mark Parrish and Scott Mellanby scored 33 seconds apart and Kirk McLean made 37 saves at Kanata, Ontario as the Panthers ended an eight-game winless streak.

Florida was outshot in the first period, 19-4, and 39-11 overall.

New York Rangers 2, Tampa Bay 1--John MacLean’s power-play goal at 11:31 of the third period at New York lifted the Rangers to a victory. Before the game, New York’s Wayne Gretzky denied reports that he was planning to announce his retirement at the end of the season.

Chicago 4, Washington 2--Tony Amonte’s second goal broke a tie with 3:46 left in the third period at Washington as the Blackhawks extended their winning streak to a season-high four games.

NHL Notes

Philadelphia Flyer center Eric Lindros was released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, four days after undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot from his chest cavity.