The Edmonton Drillers pounded the Milwaukee Wave 21-10 Wednesday, hung up their jerseys and then looked ahead to the next work day.

Put the champagne on ice.

"We'll put the celebration on hold until Friday,'' said defender Todd Rattee. "I'm going home to bed.

"We just beat a team that's 26-11, a team fighting for first in their division, but we have to come off this high and look ahead. We're just not going to be satisfied with 20 wins.''

The Drillers close out the regular season Friday in a home game against the Detroit Rockers. A pivotal game for both clubs. An Edmonton win will send the Drillers to the playoffs. Detroit has to win to stay in the race.

"We still have lots of work to do,'' said head coach Ross Ongaro, "This won't mean anything if we lose on Friday.''

Just don't underestimate the importance of this victory.

Not only was it Edmonton's sixth win in seven games --that can only sharpen their psychological edge -- it also improved the club's record to 20-19.

But more importantly, it was against a team that rolled into Edmonton with a record of 26-11, a team that was on a six-game win streak, a team still vying for first place in the Midwest Division.

"We needed this game today,'' said Sipho Sibiya. "This was a real important game for us.''

The Wave, a solid, defensive side anchored by most valuable player candidate, goalkeeper Victor Nogueira, were on top of their game in the opening quarter.

Then the Drillers' shooters went to work.

Domenic Mobilio right-footed a textbook goal past Nogueira to give the Drillers a 2-0 lead, captain Bill Sedgewick knocked in a power-play goal, Nick DeSantis punched in a shootout goal, then Mobilio kicked in his second of the night.

The game was just 25 minutes old and the Drillers had built up a 5-0 lead. And they didn't back down. It was 11-0 before the Wave responded with back-to-back goals by Todd Dusosky.

"We were clicking,'' said Sibiya. "We have to be clicking going into the playoffs. That's why this was an important game for us. They play a tight defensive game and we made them run. We were patient and that's the key with this team; we knew the goals were going to come.''

Martin Dugas, Sibiya, Kevin Holness, Rick Titus and Chris Clarke all chipped in goals before a crowd of 4,116.

Then there were the defensive efforts. Key blocks by a number of players, big saves by goalkeeper Scott Hileman, and a first-half shutout in the books -- a first for the Drillers.

"We're at the point now where everyone is having fun,'' said DeSantis. "We're so relaxed and the biggest thing is the belief we have in each other.

"Right now, every guy on this team wants to score, wants to defend. Whatever it takes. That's the biggest thing right now, it's a team effort.

"With the attitude we've got, I know Detroit is going to come in here wondering what they're going to have to do to beat us.

"Reaching 20 wins is a great accomplishment for us, but we know we're not finished. We'll wait until we lock up a playoff spot, then we can celebrate.''