No sweat. Or so the Edmonton Drillers' Scott Hileman would have you believe.

Just minutes later, striker Carmen D'Onofrio filed out of the locker room, a drink in one hand, a cookie in the other, and another stellar performance in the books.

No explanation for his blistering goal scoring streak. Just happy to be contributing.

Forgive them if they are somewhat at a loss for words. It's understandable given the turn of events.

The Drillers posted their fifth straight win Tuesday, a 25-8 victory over the Philadelphia Kixx, settling into the driver's seat in the North Division playoff race.

"The team is just flying," offered D'Onofrio, who hit the cycle against the Kixx, scoring a three-point goal, a two-pointer, a power play goal, and an assist.

"I'm very surprised," said Hileman, "but this is a good time to be peaking. Before the games now, it's just like we know we can win. Everybody's relaxed, there's just a real positive attitude."

Edmonton (19-18) is in first place, ahead of Buffalo (17-17) and Detroit (17-19). Three contenders, two playoff berths up for grabs. A race to the wire.

The Buffalo Blizzard are back in action Thursday, a road game in Kansas City, while Detroit hosts Baltimore on Friday.

Edmonton plays in Milwaukee Saturday.

"It's fun, and it's fun looking at all the teams, now they're really looking at us," said Martin Dugas, who has helped ignite the offence. "We have nothing to lose. We went from looking to win four games at the start of the season, to 10 games, and now we want first place."

The Drillers, 13-5 at home, have three regular season games left. But it doesn't seem to matter where or who they are playing. Not now. Not after this past week.

Edmonton won four games in four cities in five days. Throw in Tuesday's contest, and it was five wins in seven days.

"The word in the dressing room before the game was that we were going to win," said D'Onofrio. "When you're winning, the confidence just keeps rising."

Through the last 10 games, the Drillers have scored an average of 15 points a game, allowing just under 10.

All cylinders are clicking.

Hileman opened the week ranked third in the league's goalkeeping stats. The defenders have been solid and the counter-attacks have been productive.

"The defence has been playing so well," said Hileman, "it's like I don't have anything to do."

Not quite, chipped in D'Onofrio.

"We're so solid in the back right now, chasing down the attackers, blocking shots, standing tall in the wall, but Scott's had a great year. He's bailed us out on numerous occasions and won us some games."