(8) Edmonton Oilers vs. (5) San Jose Sharks

Edmonton pulled a major upset in the first round of the playoffs, knocking off the Detroit Red Wings in six games. The Oilers are clearly not a team to be taken lightly. If trade deadline arrival Dwayne Roloson can stay hot, look out -- anything can happen with this team. They skate, hit, and score -- all the ingredients a team needs to win. Standing in the Oilers way in this round, however, is the San Jose Sharks -- a team that does exactly what Edmonton does, except they do it with a Hart Trophy finalist/league-leading scorer. I think Joe Thornton will be the key to this series. If he decides to show up, he can dominate a game like no other. However, it's a foregone conclusion that the Oilers will trot out defensive specialist Michael Peca to keep Thornton off the scoresheet. This will be a great battle to watch, along with the Jonathan Cheechoo-Chris Pronger matchup. The irresistible force meets the immovable object -- and I think the irresistible force wins. Prediction: San Jose in 6. Series home page.