Cogliano, Oilers Beat Wild 5-3

[March 25, 2008]  EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- Andrew Cogliano scored two goals to lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.

Curtis Glencross, Dustin Penner and Kyle Brodziak also scored for Edmonton. Nick Schultz, Sean Hill and Todd Fedoruk scored for Minnesota.

It was the sixth win in their past seven games and 12th in their past 15 for the Oilers, who passed idle Nashville into ninth place in the Western Conference. They remained three points back of Colorado.

The Wild have lost three of their past four, but stayed in the Northwest Division lead.

Edmonton got off to a fast start, scoring three goals on its first four shots on Minnesota goalie Nicklas Backstrom.

The Oilers opened the scoring 2 minutes in as Wild defender Martin Skoula pushed Edmonton's Zack Stortini into Backstrom, giving Glencross a goal into an open net.

Edmonton made it 2-0 at 4:44 as the Wild got caught on a bad change, giving up a two-on-one break. Robert Nilsson passed to Cogliano, who outwaited Backstrom as he slid across the crease.

Just 18 seconds later, it was 3-0 as Ales Hemsky passed to Penner and he fought off Brent Burns before putting home a backhand goal.

Josh Harding came in to replace Backstrom.

The Wild caught a break just 39 seconds after Penner's goal as Nick Schultz's point shot went off defenseman Ladislav Smid and past Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson.

Edmonton went ahead 4-1 four minutes into the second as Harding made a poor clearing attempt. Brodziak intercepted and finished off his 14th goal.

A minute later, it was a two-goal game again as Wild defenseman Hill sent a shot from the point that found the net.

But Edmonton continued to pressure and made it 5-2 before the midway point of the period as Sam Gagner made a great feed in front to Cogliano, who snuck his second of the game between Harding's skate and the post on the backhand.

Minnesota scored 7 1/2 minutes into the third just as a power play expired when Fedoruk tipped a Martin Skoula point shot past Roloson.

Notes: It was the seventh meeting between the teams. The Wild led the series 4-2 coming in. .... Minnesota forward Mark Parrish dressed after being a healthy scratch the two previous games after being held scoreless in his past nine games. ... Pavol Demitra sat out. ... Wild center Eric Belanger, who suffered a broken toe March 7 in Atlanta, made his return to the lineup.

[Associated Press]

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