(Sports Network) – Kari Lehtonen made 30 saves and the Dallas Stars set a franchise record with their 4-2 win over Edmonton at Rexall Place.
Jamie Benn, Mike Ribeiro and James Neal scored for Dallas, which won its eighth straight road game, the most in club history. The Stars have also won five straight games overall and improved to 7-0-1 in the new calendar year.
Jeff Petry and Ryan Jones scored for the Oilers, who have dropped four straight and fell to 2-11-2 in their last 15 games overall.
Edmonton goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin turned aside 20 shots.
The Stars opened the scoring at 11:40 of the first period. Adam Burish picked up the puck along the right half-wall and sent it into the high slot for Benn, who moved in on a breakaway and used a double-deke move to beat Khabibulin.
Edmonton knotted the score with a short-handed goal only 71 seconds later. Andrew Cogliano, from below the right circle, shoved the puck into the crease area and Jones redirected it past Lehtonen. The puck appeared to deflect off Jones’ skate and the play was reviewed, but the goal stood and Jones was credited with his 11th tally of the season.
A nice give-and-go gave Dallas a 2-1 lead. Ribeiro and Nicklas Grossman raced in on a 2-on-1 rush and Ribeiro held control on the right side. He passed to the inner portion of the left circle for Grossman, who quickly fed it back to Ribeiro for a wrister that lit the lamp at 6:26 of the second stanza.
Neal’s 19th goal — a one-timer from the left circle — on the power play pushed the Stars’ cushion to 3-1 at 12:51 of the middle session.
With 1:08 remaining before the second intermission, the Oilers drew within one via Petry’s first NHL goal. The puck was pushed back toward the blue line during an extended offensive surge by the Oilers and Petry drilled a one-timer from the left point into the back of the cage.
Edmonton had several chances for the equalizer in the final period, including a wrister by Cogliano with three-plus minutes remaining. However, a late penalty on Taylor Hall sent Dallas on the power play and essentially squashed the Oilers’ hopes before Burish’s empty-netter in the final seconds.
Game Notes
The Stars were 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Oilers failed on all four of their power-play chances…Dallas has won four straight against the Oilers and 21 of the last 30 meetings in this series…Edmonton is 2-8-3 against the Pacific Division this season…Burish recorded his sixth goal of the season.