1997 – 98 Edmonton Oilers season The 1997 – 98 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers ' 19th season in the NHL , and they were coming off a 36 – 37 – 9 record in 1996 – 97 , earning their first playoff spot in 5 seasons . The Oilers then defeated the heavily favoured Dallas Stars before losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2nd round . Edmonton started off the season pretty slow , and on January 4 , when they had a record of 11 – 22 – 9 , the Oilers would trade Jason Arnott and Bryan Muir to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Bill Guerin and Valeri Zelepukin . The trade seemed to spark Edmonton , as they would finish the year 24 – 15 – 1 , making the playoffs for the 2nd straight season , as they would finish in 7th place in the Western Conference . Offensively , Doug Weight had another very solid season , leading the Oilers in goals ( 26 ) , assists ( 44 ) and points ( 70 ) . Ryan Smyth would be the only other player to score 20 goals for the team . Dean McAmmond had a break out season , finishing 2nd to Weight with 50 points and 3rd on the team with 19 goals . Bill Guerin had a solid half season in Edmonton , scoring 13 goals and 29 points in 40 games . Boris Mironov would lead the defense with 16 goals and 46 points , while Drake Berehowsky would lead the team with 169 penalty minutes . In goal , Curtis Joseph would get the majority of playing time , winning 29 games , posting a GAA of 2 . 63 and setting the club record with shutouts in a season at 8 . Bob Essensa would back him up once again , and do a very good job , having a GAA of 2 . 55 and winning 6 games for the team . The Oilers would open the playoffs against the Pacific Division winning Colorado Avalanche , who eliminated Edmonton from the playoffs the previous spring , and finished with 15 more points during the regular season . The Oilers would surprise the Avalanche in the opening game , winning 3 – 2 , but Colorado would storm back , and win 3 in a row , to go up 3 – 1 in the series . Then the Curtis Joseph show began , as he would hold off the Avalanche in game 5 , as Edmonton won 3 – 1 in Denver to keep their season alive . Edmonton would return home for the 6th game , and easily shutout Colorado 4 – 0 , forcing a 7th game . Curtis Joseph would earn his 2nd straight shutout in the 7th and deciding game , as Edmonton would win the game 2 – 0 , and win the series , eliminating the heavily favoured Avalanche . In the 2nd round , Edmonton would play against the Dallas Stars , who the Oilers defeated the previous year in the opening round . The Stars finished with an NHL best 109 points in the regular season . The Stars would beat Edmonton in the first game , but Curtis Joseph would shutout Dallas in game 2 , evening the series as it returned to Edmonton for the next 2 games . The 3rd game would be scoreless in regulation time , however , the Stars would score in the 1st overtime to take a 2 – 1 series lead . The Oilers offense then went dry , as they would score only 2 goals in the next 2 games , losing them both , and the series 4 games to 1 . Transactions . Trades . " * Later traded to the New Jersey Devils " Draft picks . Edmonton ' s draft picks at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft