NHL Update: Dallas Stars beat Edmonton Oilers, 4-2
Kari Lehtonen stopped 30 shots, as Dallas Stars rallied for eighth straight victory, 4-2 over the slumping Edmonton Oilers, at Rexall Place on Thursday.
Mike Ribeiro and James Neal lit the lamp for Stars, who have also won five consecutive contests overall and improved to 7-0-1 in the new calendar year. Jamie Benn and Adam Burish also tallied
a goal in the win.
"We came out hard," Benn said. "We did enough to win tonight. I don't think we played out best game but we got a big two points."
Jeff Petry and Ryan Jones found the net for Edmonton, which has lost four in a row and fell to 2-11-2 in its last 15 play-offs overall. Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was charged with two
goal on 22 shots in the losing effort. Ladislav Smid earned an assist in the losing effort.
"Each game it's more comfortable," Petry said of his first goal. "You just gotta take it day-by-day."
Dallas got on the board first just after midway through the first period. The play was set up by Burish, who collected the puck along the right half-wall and passed it into the high slot
for Benn, who rushed in on a breakaway and used a double-fake move to beat Khabibulin.
Edmonton answered after one minute, with Liam Reddox’s short-handed breakaway effort that was blocked by Lehtonen.
Oilers pulled even at 1-1 with another short-handed attempt after only 71 seconds. It happened so when Andrew Cogliano, from below the right circle, chipped the puck into the crease. Jones
picked it up and blasted a shot past Lehtonen.
It was ruled no-goal and the play was reviewed because the disc appeared to turn aside off Jones' skate, but the goal stood and Jones was credited with his 11th tally of the season.
“We took our foot off the gas and they’re just too good. They are going to find ways to attack you and make you pay — and they did,” said Oilers head coach Tom Renney.
Dallas notched a 2-1 lead in the seventh minute of middle session. It started when Ribeiro and Nicklas Grossman skated in on a nice give-and-go rush. Ribeiro then held control on the right
side and fed the puck to the inner portion of the left circle for Grossman, who quickly passed it back to Ribeiro, who fired a wrist shot past Khabibulin.
Dallas pushed its lead to 3-1 on a power-play in 13th minute of the second period, as Neal rifled a one-timer from the left circle for his 19th goal of the season.
Edmonton crept within a goal to make it 3-2 game with nearly one minute left in the middle stanza. The goal came when the puck was thrown back toward the blue line during an extended offensive
surge by Edmonton and Petry snapped a one-timer from the left point into the net for his first NHL goal.
“I’ve had a couple of good opportunities since I’ve been here and a couple of guys were joking with me before the game that, ‘Hey I hear you have this great shot, but we haven’t seen it.’
Then I finally get the first one,” said Petry
Oilers got several opportunities to tie the game in the third period. They had the first chance when Cogliano drilled a wrist shot toward the net with almost three minutes left.
However, a late penalty on Taylor Hall sent Dallas on the power-play and essentially squashed Edmonton’s hopes before Burish hit the puck into the empty net in the last few seconds.
Tags: