Dallas needed to come out in the third period and just play some solid hockey to see this game through. They got a little bit of offense to make that task a bit easier.
Michael Ryder continues his torrential goal scoring pace this season with his second goal of the game just five minutes into the period. Loui Eriksson put in some great work along the boards to win the puck and then he and Mike Ribeiro combined on great passing to a dive cutting Ryder. Ryder had an easy tap in for a goal. Kari Lehtonen had made an incredible save just before that goal as well so great defense was followed by great offense.
The Oilers finally scored their first (and only) goal of the game with 11 minutes left in the game. Kari Lehtonen took a puck to the throat on a Ryan Smyth shot and was stunned for a while. The play continued and ended up on a wide open (and I mean wiiiiide open) Ales Hemsky's stick. Hemsky had an open net to shoot while Lehtonen was still hunched over and had the cheapest of goals.
Dallas managed to get through the rest of the period without any incident. Dallas played a good game but there were big signs of weakness. The defense continues to not cover anyone and they generate some bad giveaways. Edmonton could have easily had four goals if Lehtonen hadn't made some amazing saves.
One small note. The Stars power play is horrendous. It's bad enough to make people vomit and keel over.