EDMONTON, Alberta -- These Edmonton Oilers don't have the scoring power they did two decades ago, but they resembled those clubs Friday night.
Igor Ulanov scored the go-ahead goal with 1:31 left in a wild third period and Ethan Moreau had two goals and an assist in the Oilers' 5-4 victory over the Nashville Predators.
"It was a wild one, no question," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said after the Oilers scored four goals in a frenetic third period. "It was a throwback to the early `80s around here.
"Last goal wins -- and we knew we had to win this game."
The Oilers moved within two points of the Predators in the race for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. Edmonton is in 10th place with 78 points, one fewer than ninth-place Los Angeles.
Ulanov banged in Jarret Stoll's rebound for his third game-winning goal. It capped a period that featured six goals, 29 shots, three lead changes and three ties.
"It was an unbelievable game," Moreau said. "The emotional changes over the course of 60 minutes were almost too much to take.
"It's indicative of the season we're having. We keep digging ourselves out of holes."
Radek Dvorak gave the Oilers a 4-3 lead at 11:01 with a pass that banked in off the skate of Nashville defenseman Kimmo Timonen.
Scott Walker made it 4-4 at 12:29, when he scored his second of the game and 23rd of the season.
"They just found a way," said Nashville's Greg Johnson, who had a goal and an assist. "That's been our problem -- not closing out games. We're not getting the job done and making defensive lapses.
"We've had a ton of important games, and we've got a ton more to come."
Timonen also scored for the Predators, who are winless in seven games (0-3-3-1) and hoping to make the playoffs for the first time in their sixth season in the NHL.
"You don't want to get into a seesaw battle," forward Steve Sullivan said. "You want to keep the puck to the outside and make it easy on your goaltender. We didn't do that."
Fernando Pisani had the other goal for the Oilers, who've won three in a row and haven't lost in regulation in 11 games (6-0-2-3).
Moreau made it 3-3 at 9:22 of the third. He went wide around Predators defenseman Shane Hnidy and took a shot that squeezed under Tomas Vokoun's arm and into the net for his 20th goal.
Johnson put the Predators up 3-2 at 6:40, just 20 seconds after the Oilers tied it at 2 on Pisani's goal. Andreas Johansson centered the puck to Johnson, who one-timed a low shot for his 14th goal.
Moreau opened the scoring with a shorthanded breakaway goal at 9:59 of the second period.
"If I'm skating well, things happen for me," Moreau said. "Our team has the ability to move the puck well and I just try to use my speed to create some chances."
Moreau has four goals in three games and a career-high 20 this season, tying him for the team lead with Raffi Torres and Ryan Smyth.
Timonen pulled the Predators even exactly two minutes later when his high shot got through a crowd in front of Ty Conklin and found the top right corner.
Walker gave Nashville a 2-1 lead at 15:07 of the second, beating Conklin low to the stick side with a bad-angle shot.
The Predators had a chance to go up two goals when Ryan Smyth high-sticked Hall with Petr Nedved already in the penalty box, but they failed to capitalize on their two-man advantage that lasted 1:23.
Notes
- The game wasn't on local television in Edmonton or available on pay-per-view, so the Oilers set up a $10 per person broadcast at Edmonton's Jubilee Auditorium, drawing roughly 2,000 fans to the concert hall.
- Mike York returned to the Oilers lineup after missing four games with a finger injury.
- Nashville G Tomas Vokoun has started eight in a row and 17 of the last 18 games. He has played in 66 of the Predators' 74 games.
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