Edmonton Oiler Shawn Horcoff was parked in front of the net Saturday night when he finally caught a lucky break. After being denied twice by Carolina Hurricane goaltender Cam Ward in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, the first-line center tipped the puck with his stick off a Jarsolav Spacek slapshot to end a five-week scoring drought. With the addition of left wing Ryan Smyth's first goal in four games, the top linemates have not only revived their performance but have now put the Oilers back in the Stanley Cup series with a 2-1 win in Game 3. "We put pressure on ourselves to come out tonight and play a good game," Horcoff said. "We weren't looking for help from any other line. We wanted to come out and produce. That's our job."

Three nights ago, after losing the first two games in Raleigh, Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish criticized his most productive pairing (a combined 12 goals, 21 assists) for trying to "do too much" and be "difference makers." After skating around the ice like overexcited puppies in the first two games, MacTavish's top line returned to play more controlled and structured hockey. Horcoff's line delivered four points in Game 3 after combining for one through the first two. Horcoff's goal in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the first period was complimented by Smyth's rebound in the final minutes of the game. Right wing Ales Hemsky assisted on both his teammates' goals at Rexall Place. "Everybody knows the scrutiny the first line is under when you are not winning and to combine that not scoring," MacTavish said. "We were a little tight, and hopefully this win will help us loosen up offensively and we'll be able to capitalize better."

Horcoff and Smyth both struggled earlier when they were matched up against Rod Brind'Amour's line in the first two games. Unable to control that line offensively, MacTavish mulled over having Horcoff's line do battle against Brind'Amour's on a five-on-five for Game 3 and chose Michael Peca's line to take a stab at them.

That turned out to be pretty successful for the Oilers. While Horcoff took the opening faceoff against Brind'Amour, center Peca took the majority against Brind'Amour, who scored in the third period to tie the game. Horcoff, who accused Brind'Amour of cheating at faceoffs earlier during the series, won 11 of 18 faceoffs and the Carolina captain was held to just 10 of 27. "We were able to free [our top line] up a bit so they didn't have to face the Brind'Amour line," Peca said. "It seemed to suit them. They had great chances all throughout the entire game."

Horcoff scored against Carolina's fourth line and Smyth took advantage of Eric Staal's line. Creating chaos in front of the net in typical fashion, Smyth charged towards the net just as Ward swatted the puck away. "He went there and just had the composure in that situation to stand in there," MacTavish said. "A chip-in par. Vintage Ryan Smyth goal. It couldn't have been prettier in our estimation."

The Hurricanes had a different take. In his postgame news conference coach Peter Laviolette suggested the 11-year Oilers' veteran should have been penalized for goaltender interference. A league official said video replay showed Ward knocking the puck out, which bounced off Smyth. "Finally we got some breaks tonight," Smyth said. "Hopefully we can get some confidence and feed off of that."