Minus two top scorers, the Edmonton Oilers relied on their defence and a gutsy effort by forward Jarret Stoll in a 3-1 win over Carolina Wednesday night.

Jason Smith notched the winning goal and fellow blue-liners Steve Staios and Matt Greene had one assist each as Edmonton moved two points ahead of idle Minnesota into first place in the NHL's Northwest Division.

Hurricanes' Mike Commodore, right, checks Edmonton's Petr Sykora against the boards.
(John Ulan/Canadian Press)

Stoll, who set up Fernando Pisani's insurance goal, finished a plus-2 with two shots and a game-high four blocked shots to help Edmonton win its second straight game.

The fourth-year centre also saved a Carolina scoring chance in the final seconds of the second period when he sprawled in front of the Oilers' crease.

"I'm very happy with the game tonight," said Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish. "We played a real good intelligent game. We looked dangerous enough offensively, and I thought our defence played really well.

"We didn't give them much through the neutral zone and we stood up and moved the puck really well. That's the best we've executed positionally in a long time."

Brad Winchester also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 11-4-1 on home ice, despite the absence of injured forwards Ales Hemsky (shoulder) and Ryan Smyth (fractured thumb).

Craig Adams had the lone goal for the defending Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes, who are 0-2 on their four-game road trip that continues Friday in Vancouver.

"It was a big game for us," said goaltender Cam Ward. "We weren't very satisfied with our outing [a 3-0 loss Tuesday] night in Calgary. Since we only play Edmonton once a year, and now have this history between us, it is a big game. We'll learn from it and hopefully come back stronger against Vancouver."

It marked Carolina's first trip to Edmonton since June 17 when the Oilers wiped the floor with the Hurricanes, dusting them 4-0 in Game 6 of the Cup final.

Edmonton also dominated this time around, applying a steady forecheck that helped set up Winchester's fourth goal of the season at 2:30 of the second period.

"We played simple and we played smart," Stoll said. "And you could tell every time we got to the red-line we got that puck in deep. We weren't fooling around in the neutral zone. When we do that we are not a very good hockey team."

Adams tied the game 1-1 midway through the frame when he redirected an Eric Belanger shot past Oilers backup goaltender Jussi Markkanen for his first goal in 10 games.

It was Carolina's first goal in 80 minutes, 34 seconds, dating back to Ray Whitney's third-period marker in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins.

Smith put Edmonton ahead to stay with one minute left in the second period. Raffi Torres won a faceoff in the Hurricanes' end and fed Smith, who blasted a slapshot from the point past a screened Ward.

Markkanen denied Whitney from point-blank range with seven minutes left in the third period to preserve a 3-1 lead. He finished with 28 saves in place of Dwayne Roloson, who was rested after starting the previous nine games.

Carolina was dealt a blow when leading scorer Rod Brind'Amour was forced to leave the game after two periods with a lower-body injury.

The Hurricanes are winless in seven games this season versus teams they faced in last year's playoffs.

Edmonton opens a three-game road trip in Dallas on Friday.