Oilers Hold Off Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche stumbled for a second straight night and the Edmonton Oilers capitalized by matching a season-high five-game unbeaten streak with a 5-1 victory Friday night.

But Colorado coach Bob Hartley was looking on the bright side.

"We'll have a great breakfast, a great practice tomorrow and we'll be back on track," he said.

The Avalanche, who lead the Northwest Division, lost 5-1 Thursday night to the Calgary Flames.

"We just have to focus," Hartley said. "Everything will be all right. I know these guys. We're definitely ready for a good playoff run."

Edmonton fans, meanwhile, were reacting to Wayne Gretzky's decision to retire earlier Friday.

Between periods, people visited the statue of Gretzky that stands in front of the Skyreach Centre. Someone had leaned a sign against the statue saying: "The house Gretzky built." The word house was crossed off and replaced with city.

Several strangers added their initials to the sign.

Someone placed a ticket stub on Gretzky's right skate. On it was scribbled: "Thank you for everything, Wayne No. 99."

Oilers Coach Ron Low was pleased with the performance of the Oilers, who have four wins and a tie since April 7 and are eighth in the Western Conference.

"The guys are really thinking," Low said. "They're playing playoff hockey, which is what we said they had to do before this started. We battled, especially on the walls."

Rem Murray scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season for the Oilers.

"Both goals were excellent," Low said. "He's really picked his game up in the last 30 games."

Vladimir Vorobiev, Alex Selivanov and center Todd Marchant also scored for the Oilers.

Colorado center Joe Sakic reached the 40-goal plateau for the fourth time in his career.

"We've had some bounces lately," Edmonton's Mie Grier said. "We want to keep going in the playoffs. We're going into the playoffs on a roll. The guys were really focused out there. There was a lot of intensity."

Vorobiev, on his first shift as an Oiler, banged in a rebound from the edge of the crease at 1:51 of the first period, following a shot by Ryan Smyth.

Vorobiev, 26, was acquired March 23 from the New York Rangers. He was assigned to the Hamilton of the AHL and was recalled Wednesday.

Marchant made it 2-0 when he and defenseman Janne Niinimaa combined on a give-and-go on a 2-on-1 break. Grier set up Selivanov's goal with a behind-the-back pass.

Murray, with the Oilers short handed, scored his first goal following a giveaway by Colorado defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh at 8:33 of the third period. Murray added his second goal with two seconds remaining.

The Oilers dominated the second period, outshooting Colorado 15-4, and the Oilers had a 31-18 advantage overall.

Edmonton center Doug Weight and Chad Kilger sat out with a sore ankle and chronic heel injury, respectively.

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