Heading into Thursday's game against the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers fans knew there was reason to be concerned.

They were not concerned about the play on the ice as their Oilers held a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals. The concern was over a pending beer shortage in Alberta.

It appears attempts of hockey fans to drink Alberta dry might end up forcing Albertans to drink Canada Dry -- the ginger ale. See what happens when both the Flames and Oilers make the playoffs?

Oilers fans have something else to worry about now, as the plucky Ducks dominated the early going of Thursday's game en route to an impressive 6-3 victory. Nobody is about to say the pressure is on Edmonton just yet, but an Anaheim win in game five would make things very interesting.  

Following a wacky game three third period that saw Anaheim score four goals in 12 minutes after tallying just two goals in the previous 168 minutes, the Ducks picked up where they left off in the opening stanza. Anaheim outshot Edmonton 25-3 and the stats were indicative of the play.  

Ducks coach Randy Carlyle made a significant change in lines, breaking up the first line of Andy McDonald, Teemu Selanne, and Chris Kunitz -- a line that had been together much of the season. Instead, Carlyle put Selanne on a line with Dustin Penner and Todd Marchant, and the move paid dividends.  

Penner is a 6'4", 250-pound giant, but his game is more Todd Bertuzzi than Donald Brashear. Penner is actually a finesse player with soft hands, yet his size and strength allows him to dominate along the boards. With the top line being shut down by Chris Pronger for much of the series, Penner was looked upon to provide some additional strength against Edmonton's towering blueliner.  

Early in the game, it was apparent the move would be effective. Dustin Penner got the scoring going when his feed from the right post bounced off Jaroslav Spacek's skate at the far post and past Roloson for a 1-0 lead.  

If the first goal looked a little lucky, the second goal was a thing of beauty. Penner skated out of the right corner and watched as Pronger went down to block the shot. Penner merely took a step around the sprawling defenseman and shot the puck along the ice to beat Roloson five-hole. Marchant provided a great screen on the play, even timing a jump perfectly to avoid blocking the shot himself.  

With Anaheim controlling the play and already on a two-man advantage, Raffi Torres was whistled for a delayed penalty late in the period. With Jean-Sebastien Giguere at the bench, Andy McDonald found Ryan Getzlaf at the left faceoff dot for a picture-perfect one-timer. The goal was Anaheim's only power play goal on the night, something that has to be of particular concern when one realizes it was actually scored on a 6-on-3 situation.  

To nobody's surprise, the Oilers came out rejuvenated in the second period. Marc-Andre Bergeron got things started with an unstoppable shot on the power play. The energy was short-lived, as Anaheim's Ruslan Salei scored his third goal of the playoffs -- after just one in the regular season -- on a shot from the right point two minutes later. The shot was not especially hard but Roloson was screened heavily on the play.  

After Ryan Smith pulled Edmonton to within two a couple of minutes later, big Georges Laraque got his first tally of the playoffs. Pronger made a beautiful pass from the left point, finding Laraque alone in the slot. Giguere, playing his first game in about a month, was too far out of the crease and could only watch as Laraque went to Giguere's left and made it a 4-3 game.  

Giguere later said he did not relax entirely until after the third goal, and it showed. After a shaky start, Giguere made several big saves the rest of the way and is a sure starter Saturday night at the Pond.  

The momentum was clearly in Edmonton's corner until Anaheim added an insurance marker late in the period. Off an offensive zone faceoff at the right circle, Lupul picked up a loose puck and beat Roloson to the short side. On a night when officiating was tight, Anaheim might have gotten away with one on the play, as replays showed Penner hooking Edmonton's Ryan Smith as Lupul took the shot.  

Overall, the officiating seemed pretty even -- both sides were pleased at times and annoyed at others. The game was called tighter than most in the series, perhaps because of the presence of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.  

A relatively quiet third period finished with Lupul taking a one-handed shot that went into the empty net, giving the Edmonton-area native two goals for the evening.  

Nobody is ready to say Anaheim is likely to win this series at this point, but the Ducks have several factors going for them. Anaheim has finally figured out how to get around the Oilers' impeccable shot blocking, as the forwards are making an extra move before taking the shot. This was shown best on Penner's second goal, but it was evident all night as Anaheim managed 46 shots on goal.  

The line of Selanne, Penner, and Marchant also matches up better against Pronger than the normal Anaheim first line. Penner's size helps to neutralize Pronger, who had been dominating against the smaller McDonald and Kunitz.  

On the other hand, Edmonton's experiment of putting Fernando Pisani on the top line with Smyth and Shawn Horcoff did not work nearly as well. Without Pisani on the checking line, Michael Peca and Raffi Torres were less effective than usual. Look for Pisani to be back on the checking line Saturday.  

With a win Saturday, the Ducks could make this a long and interesting series. Sit down, grab a beer -- for those in Alberta, only if you can find one -- and enjoy. If game five is anything like the last two games, it will be another classic.