SAN JOSE, CALIF. - dmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin got the night off and put his feet up on his 38th birthday Thursday while his young backup Devan Dubnyk presented his mentor with a tidy 41-save performance against the San Jose Sharks.

Dubnyk, making only his fifth start since Dec. 1, was rock-solid, especially in the first 40 minutes. Rookie Taylor Hall had two goals while Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner and Linus Omark beat a shaky Antero Niittymaki at the other end as the Oilers handed the toothless Sharks their sixth straight loss 5-2.

"Doobie was incredible ... just a wall for us," said Hall, who picked up his second three-point night of his 42-game career -- the other against the Colorado Avalanche.

Not the Bulin Wall. But a wall nevertheless.

Ales Hemsky, who hit the post twice in the third, had four assists for the Oilers.

Dubnyk made 34 straight stops before Sharks captain Joe Thornton finally broke through on a three-on-two power play six minutes into the third after Niittymaki stopped Penner on a two-on-one short-handed play with Cogliano at the other end. Ryane Clowe added another on a six-on-four in the last minute.

That was all they got though as the Oilers won for only the second time in their last 11 games. In both cases, Dubnyk got the win. The other one was Jan. 6, 2-1 over the New York Islanders. In his last five starts, Dubnyk has given up only nine goals "I guess the shutout will come some time, but there was still 15 minutes left in the the third when Thornton scored. It was only 3-0 then. The 'W' was a whole lot more important than the shutout," said Dubnyk.

Oilers coach Tom Renney said after the morning skate that he would consider playing Dubnyk back-to-back with the next stop in Los Angeles on Saturday, if the Oilers won and the rookie played well. Two points gained, two points proven.

"We're (coaches) going to talk it over," said Renney, who said he wasn't averse to changing the goalie situation where Khabibulin has been playing two out of every three.

The Oilers broke it open in the second with Omark giving them some breathing room in the third just as a five-on-three power play ended.

Penner took advantage of a flopping Niittymaki to hammer home his 13th of the season. Niittymaki fell down as Hemsky circled the net and looked like a fish out of water as he tried to get back to his feet and wasn't set for Penner's blast off the Hemsky feed.

"Penner's a big strong man, a power forward from the hash down. He's not an easy guy to take the puck off and Hemmer is just slick," Renney said. "He's got such tremendous poise in all facets. But what I was really impressed with as a whole line was how hard they chewed up ice on the backcheck."

Hall took a Hemsky relay and raced in after defenceman Niclas Wallin fell down on a fairly harmless rush. His 10-footer was stopped, the puck dribbled past Niittymaki and rolled a few centimetres over the goal-line for Hall's 13th as well.

The stumbling Sharks, who went into the game without their leading scorer, Logan Couture (19 goals, knee), got a major scare in the first when their heart-and-soul winger Ryane Clowe hobbled off with a right leg injury after a fight with Theo Peckham, but returned for the second.

jmatheson@edmontonjournal.com