EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) – San Jose coach Ron Wilson wants the Sharks to stop coasting and start hustling against the Edmonton Oilers.

With his team down 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinal series, Wilson issued an important message to his players, who have lost three straight and face elimination when the series resumes Wednesday night at Rexall Place.

“They are pressuring us up the ice and we’re coasting back for pucks,” Wilson said. “We’ve got some guys who might be viewing themselves as they have a right to be on the power play instead of the view that it’s a privilege.”

The Sharks are 2-for-27 on the power play in the series.

“For some reason, we can’t build any momentum after we score a goal or make a penalty kill,” defenseman Kyle McLaren said. “We have to talk about what went wrong and what went right. We have to be confident, be ready to play, block the distractions.”

Despite being outshot 24-18 and outhit 34-16, the Oilers stole Game 5 from the Sharks by a 6-3 score Sunday night in San Jose.

“We’re very confident right now. We’re going into our building with a 3-2 lead and we have to use that to our advantage,” said Oilers forward Fernando Pisani, who scored his sixth and seventh goals of the playoffs Sunday.

The Oilers are trying to reach the conference final for the first time since 1992.

“The fourth win is always the hardest. We have to come prepared,” defenseman Chris Pronger said. “They are going to bring their best game. They battled back hard.”

There’s no quit in that team. We’ve got to make sure we’re focused and prepared. It’s going to be a battle in Game 6.”

AP-ES-05-15-06 1932EDT


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