Victory leaves Oilers sitting in catbird seat

EDMONTON, Alberta – Fernando Pisani and the Edmonton Oilers are a win away from the Stanley Cup finals.

Pisani’s ninth goal of the postseason helped the Oilers withstand a late rally by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and Edmonton won Game 3 of the Western Conference final 5-4 Tuesday night.

The Oilers go for the sweep and their first trip to the finals since winning the Stanley Cup in 1990 Thursday at home.

The Oilers roared out to a 4-0 lead on goals by Michael Peca, Steve Staios and Chris Pronger in the first 5 minutes of a wild third period.

“At no point was I comfortable at 4-0 because I knew the energy level of our team,” Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. “It was a wild game we feel fortunate to have won. I’ve been in those situations where we haven’t won.

“We’ve got to come in here Thursday with some fresh legs.”

Anaheim came right back on goals by Sean O’Donnell, Teemu Selanne and Chris Kunitz to make it 4-3.

“Good lesson for us,” Staios said. “That’s a desperate hockey team, but we like the situation we’re in now.”

Pisani gave Edmonton some insurance with just more than 5 minutes left. It turned out to be a huge goal after Selanne scored his second of the game to bring Anaheim back within 5-4.

Toby Petersen scored in the first period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.

Eighth-seeded Edmonton, which eliminated Detroit in the first round, has won seven straight since falling behind 2-0 to San Jose in the second round. It’s the Oilers’ longest postseason winning streak since ‘90. They are 6-1 at home this postseason.

Edmonton has gone deeper into the playoffs than any eighth-seeded team since the introduction of the conference format in 1994.

The Ducks have lost 13 straight in Edmonton, dating back to Feb. 24, 1999.

Peca started the Oilers’ scoring binge in the third, tipping the puck past Ducks defenseman Ruslan Salei at the blue line and racing in alone on goalie Illya Bryzgalov. Peca beat Bryzgalov to the glove side 2 minutes into the period.

Peca has scored a goal in four straight games and has points in his last six.

The Oilers went on to score twice more in the next 2 minutes.

First, Sergei Samsonov set up Staios, who slapped the puck into an the net.

With the Oilers on a 5-on-3 power play, Pronger blasted the puck low to Bryzgalov’s stick side for the 4-0 lead.

Then the Oilers sat back and the Ducks went to work, scoring three goals in 4 minutes.

O’Donnell scored with a point shot through traffic at 12:45.