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Playing sound defence often is about eliminating time and space for opposing forwards, something the Edmonton Oilers have done to near-perfection in the National Hockey League's Western Conference final.

The Oilers have been so proficient, including keeping the big shooters of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to the outside, that Edmonton netminder Dwayne Rolson has made only a handful of second-chance saves.

Roloson had another steady game last night and the Edmonton defence was nearly unbeatable as the Oilers won 3-1 again to take a 2-0 lead back to the Alberta capital, where Edmonton is 5-1 in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Fernando Pisani was the man of the moment in the second game of the series when he scored the winning goal in the second period, his eighth goal of the playoffs, only one fewer than leading Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks, who were eliminated in the previous round by Edmonton. Pisano also assisted on an empty-net goal by Mike Peca in the final minute.

The Oilers have won six games in a row, their longest postseason streak since 1990, when they had an eight-game winning surge on the way to their last NHL playoff championship.

Edmonton is 6-0 against the Ducks this season, including the regular season. The Oilers are two games from sweeping the best-of-seven series, which many had predicted would go the distance. The third game is tomorrow.

The Oilers have momentum and a belief they should enjoy their most productive springtime in years, something that's not lost on the players.

Anaheim trailed going into the second period when its fore-checking took over for a few shifts and eventually led to the 1-1 goal. Rob Niedermayer's pass-out hit linemate Samuel Pahlsson and bounced into the slot to Jeff Friesen, who managed to escape the grasp of Edmonton's Jarrett Stoll and beat Roloson with a sharp backhand shot at 6:12.

"When they have a hot goalie, it's a great penalty-killer for them," Niedermayer said. "We can't get deterred. We have to throw pucks at the net, with traffic. That's how to beat them."

Roloson made a huge glove save on Teemu Selanne to keep the Ducks at bay midway through the second period. The soft quality of the ice also prevented Anaheim from setting up for good scoring chances during an ensuing power play, as passes often hopped over sticks.

Edmonton got a break later in the second period when Anaheim had trouble clearing the defensive zone and the puck popped loose to Oilers winger Sergei Samsonov. He smartly passed to Pisani near the top of the right faceoff circle and the Oilers' winger ripped a high shot into the far corner behind Ducks netminder Ilya Bryzgalov at 17:09 for a 2-1 lead.

The Oilers had to make lineup changes when forward Raffi Torres and defenceman Marc-André Bergeron became ill earlier in the day and couldn't play. They were replaced with Toby Peterson and Dick Tarnstrom.

Two other Oilers missed the morning skate. Jason Smith was ill and Ales Hemsky was treated for an undisclosed injury.

Both dressed for the game, and Smith logged his usual large amount of ice time, 20:06, alongside Chris Pronger.

"It's important against a team with gifted offensive players to not give them premium scoring chances," Smith said. "[Roloson] has done a good job of clearing rebounds away from the net, and when one does come out, we've been able to clear to the corner."

Pronger opened the scoring in the first period with a long shot from just inside the blueline during a power play at 13:08. It beat Bryzgalov to the stick side, running Pronger's playoff point total to 14, the most by any defenceman in the postseason.

Anaheim winger Corey Perry was in the penalty box when Pronger scored. Perry took a goaltender-interference penalty during an Anaheim power play.

Perry was restored to the lineup in place of Travis Moen after Perry missed five games with a leg injury suffered in the first round.

Perry was one of six rookies in the Ducks' lineup. Rookies had combined for 30 per cent of Anaheim's points in the postseason.

The Ducks attempted to get more traffic in front of Roloson, with 243-pound rookie winger Dustin Penner the most effective at getting nearer the goal crease to set up screens.