As you could tell, my last post about the Edmonton Oilers wasn't optimistic.

However, my hopes were raised when I blinked 15.98 seconds into Game 5 with the Carolina Hurricanes, only to open them and find the Oilers ahead 1-0 after Chris Pronger blasted one from the point.

In the last five minutes of the third period, with the score tied 3-3, I became Doubting Bill again. The 'Canes were coming on hard, and the Oil were back on their heels.

I literally couldn't believe my eyes when, early into OT, the Oilers' Fernando Pisani alertly intercepted an absolutely piss-poor pass from Cory Stillman (who had a fine game otherwise) to Eric Staal.

The dreamlike state continued as Pisani broke in alone on 'Canes goalie Cam Ward and launched a perfectly-positioned wrist shot over Ward's glove shoulder (did I mention it was a short-handed goal?).

And so the Oilers -- who outshot Carolina 7-0 in OT and 29-24 in the game -- get to play at least one more game!

So, have they broken the backs of the 'Canes?

I suspect not. I greatly admire the ability of both teams to recover from adversity. Full marks to all the players in this series for mental toughness.

Personally, I think it's also been a tremendous battle between the coaches -- Craig MacTavish of the Oilers and Peter Laviolette of the 'Canes. Both have built a resilient group of warriors who play together as teams.

For the Oil to triumph, MacTavish has to find a way to convince his guys to continue their hardnosed, banging style without getting stupid penalties (Carolina scored all three of their goals on the power play). He also managed to get a power play goal out of his guys, so anything's possible. :)

Laviolette has to make sure Cam Ward isn't coming back down to earth. After a standout playoff run, Ward let in three goals on 10 shots in the first period. His save percentage for the game was only .862. However, at .875, the Oilers' Jussi Markkanen can hardly claim to have enjoyed a stellar night between the pipes.

While everyone plays hurt at this time of the year, the Oilers' banging may have paved the way for OT success. Both Doug Weight and Aaron Ward missed parts of the games after being hammered by the Oilers.

That forced Laviolette to tighten up his line-up and could explain Stillman's bone-headed play (when you're exhausted, dumb shit can happen).

Otherwise, he has to make sure the 'Canes players put the OT loss behind them and keep doing the things that have given them a 3-2 lead in this series.