SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The surprise team in the Pacific Division made a final statement before the All-Star break Thursday night.

Edmonton shrugged off fatigue and playing on the road to grind out a 4-1 victory over the Sharks and move into a virtual first-place tie with San Jose at sold-out SAP Center.

"I think it's a feather in the cap of the players," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "They bought into a system, they bought into each other, they care about each other."

The Oilers, 7-0-1 in their last eight games after road wins on consecutive nights over the Ducks and Sharks, snapped San Jose's season-high six-game winning streak. The Sharks and Oilers finish the pre-break portion of the schedule with a division-leading 64 points apiece with San Jose playing one fewer game.

"Obviously they're young with a lot of speed and skill," said San Jose's Patrick Marleau, held without a goal in his quest for No. 500. "They added some pieces in the offseason, a little more grit on the wings, backend got a little bit better. They're hanging in there."

Despite scoring first for the seventh straight game, the Sharks couldn't take advantage of four power plays and found beating Edmonton goalie Cam Talbot a challenge, especially considering his team blocked 28 of San Jose's shots.

"You've got to give them a lot of credit, they blocked a lot of shots, got in a lot of lanes, and the goalie made key saves when he had to," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "They won the special teams' battle. ... They were opportunistic. They found a way and we didn't."

Rookie forward Drake Caggiula scored at 11:31 of the third period to break open a one-goal game. Caggiula's breakaway came after he stole the puck from Sharks defenseman Paul Martin at the Edmonton blue line.

Edmonton's Connor McDavid added an empty-net goal -- his 17th -- at 18:08. The league's leading scorer at the break enjoyed a two-point night.

"To scratch and claw and win on the road in these last two games in very tough buildings is something we should be proud of and we should be confident with, but it's also only the All-Star break," McLelland said. "There's a lot of hockey left."

San Jose, which went 0 for 4 on the power play, had a great opportunity to tie the game early in the period after Edmonton defenseman Adam Larsson drew blood with a high stick of Sharks' center Joe Thornton. But Talbot stopped two shots on each end of the double-minor to thwart the Sharks' efforts.

"He's been doing that all year for us," Caggiula said of Talbot. "Good teams need good goaltending and he's been great all year."

Andrej Sekera scored his second goal in as many periods with a late power-play strike to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.

The Edmonton defenseman unleashed a blast from the left point that slipped through a screen provided by Oilers teammate Milan Lucic and past Sharks goalie Martin Jones with 17:07 elapsed in the second period.

Sekera's seventh goal of the season came on Edmonton's fourth shot in only 48 seconds on their first power play, courtesy of slash against McDavid by San Jose defenseman Brent Burns.

"I just tried to get it through to the net," Sekera said. "I saw (Lucic) in front. The goalie can't stop what he can't see and he did a great job of screening and it went in."

Edmonton scored with 5.6 seconds left in the first, a goal that stood after San Jose's failed coach's challenge for offside, to tie the game 1-1.

Sekera stepped into a shot from the mid-slot that caromed off the inside of Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic's right knee and past Jones as Oilers forward Patrick Maroon was in front.

"Good forecheck by the guys," Sekera said. "I saw an opening, jumped in. Connor gave it to me. ... I just tried to get it to the net."

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead at 4:05 when Logan Couture found the net for his 17th goal of the season to cap a 3-on-2 break. Marleau started the sequence in the Edmonton zone with a quick cross-ice feed to Mikkel Boedker, who dropped a perfect feed to Couture filling the slot.

"That's what you expect from two good teams," Burns said. "Little bounces here and there. We've been on the other end of those the last five or six. The different in hockey is pretty small."

NOTES: Thursday marked the 1,000th game for Doug Wilson as San Jose general manager. He's the fourth GM to reach 1,000 games after playing 1,000 (Bobby Clarke, Bob Pulford and Bob Gainey are the others). Of the milestone, Wilson said, "I've been extremely blessed to have been able to be involved in this game for more than 40 years. It's a testament to all of the players I was fortunate to play with and manage over the years, as well as the coaches, fans and people I have worked with and for, particularly ownership. Most importantly, is the love and support of my family because you go on a lot of road trips over 40 years. I would not be here without them." ... Edmonton continues to play without injured D Andrew Ference (hip), D Darnell Nurse (foot), RW Iiro Parkarinen (knee), RW Tyler Pitlick (knee) and LW Jujhar Khaira (wrist). ... F Tomas Hertl returned after missing 32 games with a right-knee injury. Hertl was slotted in on the top line alongside C Joe Thornton and RW Joe Pavelski. ... San Jose played without RW Joonas Donskoi (shoulder) and D Tim Heed (healthy). ... Edmonton's healthy scratches included C Anton Lander, LW Jujhar Khaira and D Eric Gryba.