Khabibulin snags career win #300 in shootout

Edmonton's Mike Comrie celebrates after scoring the opening goal Tuesday night vs. the Dallas Stars. The Oilers went on to win 5-4 in a shootout. (Photo by Andy Devlin / Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club)

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PRE-GAME

Preview Game Notes Head-to-Head Stats Comparison Game Program Video interviews Audio Interviews

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Watch tonight's video highlights. Post-game interviews with Sam Gagner, Ales Hemsky, Mike Comrie, Denis Grebeshkov, Nikolai Khabibulin and Pat Quinn. The Other Side: Dallas Stars post-game with Brenden Morrow, Marty Turco and Marc Crawford

AUDIO

Pat Quinn Nikolai Khabibulin Denis Grebeshkov Mike Comrie Ales Hemsky Sam Gagner 1st Intermission - Andrew Cogliano Audio Highlights vs. Dallas

SHOOTOUT RESULTS

Edmonton: Gagner - MISS O'Sullivan - MISS Hemsky - SCORE Dallas: Richards - MISS Ribeiro - MISS Neal - MISS

THREE STARS

Dustin Penner, EDM Brenden Morrow, DAL Sam Gagner, EDM

UPDATE

With the win, the Oilers improve to 1-1-0 and move into a four-way tie with Nashville, San Jose & Minnesota for seventh spot in the Western Conference.

WHAT'S NEXT

Edmonton continues their season-opening homestand Thursday, October 8 by hosting Calgary for the second time. Game time is 7:30pm MST.

by Jen Sharpe | edmontonoilers.com

Four powerplay goals, one shorthanded marker, and two fights highlighted the first 60 minutes of Tuesday's game at Rexall Place, but Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin saved the biggest story for after regulation. With help from his right post, the goalie posted a perfect performance in the shootout vs. the Dallas Stars to secure the first Oilers win of the season and the 300th of his career.

Mike Comrie, Sam Gagner, Dustin Penner, and Denis Grebeshkov scored Edmonton's first four goals, while Ales Hemsky notched the lone shootout goal to seal the 5-4 win.

FIRST PERIOD

Two minutes into Game 2, Stars defenceman Jeff Woywitka took a high-sticking penalty and the home team went on the powerplay. Near the tail end of the man-advantage, Mike Comrie received a feed from Andrew Cogliano and out-played goaltender Marty Turco to give the Oilers an early 1-0 lead.

But just over two minutes later, Dallas captain Brenden Morrow capitalized on a scrambling situation by directing the puck off J.F. Jacques' skate to tie the game at one. A fight involving dominant Sheldon Souray and Krystofer Barch got fans on their feet shortly after the goal, and after flipping Barch onto the ice and landing a pair of jabs, Souray joined his foe in the penalty boxes for five minutes.

The Oilers and Stars traded penalties in the latter half of the period, and although the visitors climbed to a 10-6 shot lead on their two advantages, goalie Nikolai Khabibulin kept the puck out of the Oilers net to maintain the tie game after 20 minutes.

630 CHED's Dan Tencer interviews Andrew Cogliano after the first period

SECOND PERIOD

Following Souray's lead in the first period, Ryan Stone dropped his gloves with Steve Ott as the second period got underway. The lengthy grapple swept across the ice and up against the boards near the Oilers bench, and concluded when Stone jerseyed the Stars winger.

At 4:44, Loui Eriksson earned a hooking minor and the Oilers earned their third powerplay of the game. But despite owning the man-advantage, Edmonton surrendered the spotlight to James Neal, who beat Khabibulin shorthanded for a 2-1 Dallas lead.

The lead didn't last long, however. 38 seconds later, Oilers defenceman Denis Grebeshkov completed a fantastic spin-pass to Sam Gagner, who slapped the tying goal past Turco.

Near the game's midway point, Shawn Horcoff was called for tripping and the Stars benefited from their third powerplay. 1:24 into the infraction, Stephane Robidas mimicked Gagner's slapper and fired home his own from the blueline to renew Dallas' lead.

But the back-and-forth game continued to sway, this time thanks to towering Dustin Penner. After snagging the puck in the corner and snaking up on Turco, Penner went top shelf to tie it back up. The goal set the score 3-3, with the Stars up 23 shots to 16, after 40 minutes.

THIRD PERIOD

An end-of-period hooking penalty to Steve Staios gave the Stars another powerplay to start the third, and for the second time in five opportunities, they capitalized. Mike Ribeiro faked a shot and passed to Morrow at the corner of the net, and Dallas' Captain completed the play by going five-hole with the puck for a 4-3 lead.

The powerplay tables turned following the goal, and though the Oilers couldn't match with a PP marker of their own, Grebeshkov got the job done six seconds into five-on-five. From mid-slot, the defenceman wristed the puck on net. Turco made a pad save, but to his dismay, the puck bounced into the air, over his head, and into the net to tie the game for the fourth time.

The Stars cracked 30 shots while the Oilers stayed in the low 20's in the final 10 minutes of regulation, but both goalies closed their gates to force overtime.

OVERTIME

The Oilers and Stars managed one and two shots respectively in sudden death, but thanks in part to a late blocked shot by Ales Hemsky, the game-winning goal remained elusive and the game progressed to a shootout.

SHOOTOUT

Turco and Khabibulin were hot in the shootout until Hemsky took the puck for Edmonton and tucked it inside Turco's left post. Dallas' Neal was then tasked with salvaging the win, but Khabibulin's right post made the stop to secure a 5-4 shootout win for the Oilers -- their first of the season and Khabibulin's 300th of his career.