Striking Oil

Not long after the Oilers newest, hottest center had iced yet another win last Friday (3-1 over the Kings), Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish was marveling. "That was a goal scorer's goal," he said of Petr Nedved's nifty top-shelf backhander. "That's why we were so excited to get him."

Five weeks ago the Oilers brass never imagined they would be able to import a sniper of Nedved's pedigree (that goal was the 300th of his career) nor that he would be sealing a game with playoff implications. In late February, Edmonton was buried in 10th place in the Western Conference with a 25-27-10-1 record, nine points behind Los Angeles for the final postseason berth. "We were far enough out that it was almost impossible [to make the playoffs]," general manager Kevin Lowe says. "We weren't ready to take on players."

His thinking changed in a New York minute. Over their next three games the Oilers closed to within six points of the Kings, the beginning of a stretch in which, through Sunday, they had gone 10-0-2-4 and vaulted into a frantic four-way race—with L.A., the Blues and the Predators—for the West's last two playoff berths. After beating the Coyotes 4-2 on Sunday, Edmonton, with 87 points, held a two-point lead over Nashville for the final spot.

In a sense it was Rangers general manager Glen Sather, already an Edmonton hero for coaching the Oilers to four Stanley Cups in the 1980s, who rescued the team. In early March he made a trade offer Lowe couldn't refuse: Nedved and backup goalie Jussi Markkanen for two prospects and a second-round pick in this summer's entry draft. With his speed and scoring ability, Nedved, 32, was a perfect fit for the Oilers, who lacked an elite pivotman and who play their home games on one of the league's fastest ice sheets.

But the deal-sealer for small-market Edmonton was this: The Rangers agreed to pay the remainder of Nedved's $4.5 million salary (roughly $900,000) this season. Nedved, who was slogging through a down year (14 goals in 65 games) in New York, has been energized in Edmonton. Playing alongside erstwhile Rangers linemate and fellow Czech Radek Dvorak, he had five goals and eight assists in 13 games.

The trade also freed Lowe to ship struggling goalie Tommy Salo to the Avalanche at the deadline and hand the starting job to Ty Conklin, with Markkanen as a backup. Salo's shakiness and sub-.900 save percentage were a drag on Edmonton's confidence. The Conklin-Markkanen tandem (a combined 2.22 goals-against average since the trade) has been a more calming presence in net, and the Oilers will need that stability in a grueling final week that includes games at St. Louis, Dallas and Vancouver.

Nedved's stay in Edmonton will likely last only until the Oilers play their final game this season. Lowe, who carries the league's sixth-lowest payroll ($31 million), is highly unlikely to exercise Nedved's $5 million option for next year. Still, the trade has been an emotional lift in a dressing room accustomed to seeing star players immigrate to, not emigrate from, bigger markets. "We're battling for the playoffs, and they bring in a guy like Petr?" says Dvorak. "That's a great move by the team."