Ryan Smyth scores late as the Oilers topple Kings, 2-1, and inexplicably and officially jump into a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Lineup
Smyth	Horcoff	Hemsky	Brewer	Smith
York	Nedved	Dvorak	Cross	Staios
Moreau	Stoll	Laraque	Bergeron	Ulanov
Torres	Oates	Pisani
			Conklin
			Markkanen
Scratched: Isbister, Chimera, Ferguson, Semenov

Postgame

You know Oilers fans are battle hardened. They've seen five Cups in seven years but they've also watched their team miss the playoffs for four straight seasons. Hell, we've also watched a team expect to make the playoffs with a close to four million dollar goalie putting up sub .900 Sv PCT's.

But that guy usually took his March viagra and even he could get it up for a run in the last full month of the regular season.

But has their ever been a March run as improbable as this one? They are relying on a netminding tandem that has never felt the pressure of a frantic playoff chase, they employ a penalty killing unit that gives up at least one goal every road game and their leading offensive defenseman is a guy who's even too small to be a Hobbit.

It's beyond madness at this point and the latest victory in the mad dash to the playoffs was a 2-1 win in Los Angeles.

Yes, they are all big games but for the first time all winter the Oilers actually had the chance to be the predator in a knockout game. LA did have a game in hand on the Oilers heading into this contest but they trailed the Oilers by one point and four wins and the Kings schedule down the stretch is beyond brutal.

But they had the Oilers on the second half of back to back games and Edmonton had not won the second half of a back to back series all season.

Goals from Fernando Pisani and Ryan Smyth cured that problem though as the Oilers dealt the Kings what could be described as a death blow.

Sunday night's hard fought win over the Sharks meant the Oilers would have to go to the reserve tank and early on the Kings carried the play and exhibited the desperation that has served Edmonton so well over these past few weeks.

But Ty Conklin held the fort and eventually the Oilers fourth line would become the latest unit to give the Oilers a spark.

That revolving troika had been about the only group that hasn't contributed during this stretch. Brad Isbister has been in and out of the lineup since his return from the IR and Jason Chimera has gone cold. Adam Oates has been cold all season.

The latest edition of Those That Play The Fewest Minutes featured a newly demoted Raffi Torres, Oates and Fernando Pisani and it was the local product who chimed in when his bankshot off Nathan Dempsey opened the scoring with a little under three minutes left in the opening frame. He does owe wingmate Raffi Torres much credit for the marker though as the former Brampton Battalion ruffian charged into Kings defenseman Aaron Miller and seperated him from the puck. Pisani picked up the loose projectile and slipped it home past Kings netminder Christobal Huet.

Shots read 10-4 after one period in favour of Los Angeles but the second period saw the tide turn as the Oilers finally began to pour it on. The Oilers began to work the defense down low and the Smyth line joined the Oates line when it came to sustaining pressure in the Los Angeles zone. Ales Hemsky had two great chances to score but he was denied on the first attempt and then flubbed the other chance. Edmonton also hit two pipes in the middle frame as a Marc Andre Bergeron shot hit Miller's stick before finding the crossbar and then Adam Oates continued the fine play of the fourth line when he collected a stray puck and floated a backhand off the post.

There were just five shots registered by the Kings in the second period but two of them were great saves by Conklin as he first robbed Eric Belanger from the slot and later Joe Corvo off a rocket from the blueline.

Desperation usually wins out, though, and that had to be kept in mind as the third period began and the Kings looked to salvage a home game against an opponent they need to pass to keep their second season hopes alive.

An early bad change by Bergeron lead to the first of many outstanding chances by LA as Josef Stumpel found himself in alone on the left side of Conklin. But the Alaskan stood his ground and easily thwarted the attempt.

Still the Kings poured it on and the Oilers seemed content to play rope a dope and hope their netminding could keep them in. And it looked like it would until Georges Laraque took a high sticking penalty and the Oilers road penalty killing showed up.

Stumpel got his revenge late in the advantage off a great shot from the right slot and the first assist went to Luc Robitaille who became the league's leading scorer among left wings.

Left wings, you say?

The Oilers have a pretty good portsider themselves who plays with the number #94 adorning his back and though he'd been quiet the last five games or so he sprung to life to give the Oilers the lead they'd need.

Mike York started the play with a little 10 foot pass to break out over his own blueline. Ryan Smyth took the feed and swept into the Kings zone before dropping a pass to Marc Andre Bergeron. The diminutive defenseman then sent a missle towards the Kings net only to have Smyth tip it past Huet and vault the Oilers into the lead.

Cory Cross took a late high sticking penalty and Kings coach Andy Murray pulled his netminder to give the Kings a six-on-four advantage but the Oilers kept them to the outside of both the crease and eventually and currently the playoff seeding of the Western Conference.

Three Stars

Ty Conklin - Outside of a first period scramble where Moreau had to make a save, Ty looked as steady in the net as he ever has. No bad goals and that's all the Oilers seem to need right now.

Raffi Torres - He played like bowling ball with skates. He didn't register a point but he had four shots on net and responded to a demotion with some inspired play.

Luc Robitaille - He's just like Hull in that he finds a way to get open even when you key on him

Out of Town Scoreboard

Nothing else noteworthy tonight unless you are perhaps eyeing the second straight poor home effort of the Flames. Though the Oilers will be very lucky to catch them. The next game of note happens on Tuesday when the Ducks visit the Preds. Check the OF updated standings and you'll see what that game means

Oil Gauge

The Oilers fourth line counted for one goal, seven shots on net and were the Oilers only consistent source of offensive pressure. Wingmates Torres and Pisani seemed to click and suddenly Oates is bringing a much grittier game than before. I guess it really is playoff time.......Jason Smith was oddly enough the Oilers most played defenseman finishing at 23:01 which slightly edged out partner Eric Brewer's 22:10. MacTavish trashed the idea of Staios on the PP and the beneficary was Jason Smith who settled in on the second PP unit alongside Igor Ulanov. All are miscast in this role but you can't teach new tricks to an old defensive specialist turned coach....Bergeron's season line looks like this: 48-8--22-+12. But since his recall prior to the Jan 17th game in Nashville, MAB's line has been 20-4-11-+12. If you don't love this kid, you simply aren't trying.

Next Game

Dallas rolls into town on Wed night. Note the start time as it's 8PM MST on SN West. I'm just guessing here but it has to be because ESPN is having a doubleheader. Stars/Oilers tilts are usually enjoyable and while the Oilers couldn't win in Dallas with 12 Wayne Gretzky's and 6 Chris Pronger's, they have been doing well at home versus the Stars since the '01 season.