Stars kill Oilers comeback, win 4-3 Friday night

Edmonton's Ryan Potulny gets the puck past Dallas' Marty Turco in the first period Friday, January 22. The Stars went on to beat the Oilers 4-3. (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 the highlights Post-game comments from Shawn Horcoff, Ryan Potulny, Tom Gilbert, Sam Gagner, Devan Dubnyk & Pat Quinn The Other Side: Mike Modano, Marty Turco, Steve Ott & Marc Crawford

AUDIO

Audio Highlights Sam Gagner Ryan Potulny Shawn Horcoff Tom Gilbert Devan Dubnyk Dustin Penner Pat Quinn

THREE STARS

Steve Ott, DAL - 2 assists Sam Gagner, EDM - 2 goals & 6 shots Marty Turco, DAL - 35 saves

UPDATE

With the loss, the Oilers fall to 16-28-6 and sit in 15th spot in the Western Conference with 38 points.

WHAT'S NEXT

Edmonton's four-game homestand continues Tuesday, January 26 vs. Chicago. The game starts at 7:30pm and will be broadcast on TSN.

It was an exciting game between two desperate clubs that went down to the wire. With a minute left on the clock and an open net behind him, Sam Gagner scored his second goal of the night to tie the Stars 3-3. The crowd went wild, but 40 seconds later Dallas' James Neal shut them up by lifting the game-winner over goalie Devan Dubnyk.

Gagner, Robert Nilsson, and Dustin Penner led the Oilers with two points each, while Dubnyk finished with 28 saves. At the opposite end of the ice, Marty Turco made 35 saves for the Stars win.

FIRST PERIOD

Zack Stortini and Steve Ott shared words before the opening face-off but Jason Strudwick and Krystofer Barch beat them to the punch. 2:24 into the game, the players dropped their gloves in the Oilers zone, with Strudwick landing a flurry of right jabs before Barch wrenched off his jersey and wrestled him to the ice.

With both penalty boxes occupied, the Stars settled into the Oilers zone and nabbed the first goal of the game. From the right point, Trevor Daley guided a slapshot through traffic and past Dubnyk to make it 1-0.

The home team didn't get any help after the goal. On the following shift, Shawn Horcoff and Fernando Pisani took coincidental goaltender interference and hooking minors to offer the Stars a two-minute two-man advantage. Dallas assaulted Dubnyk with nine shots on the powerplay, but the goalie kept his gate closed.

Unfortunately, relief was short-lived for the Oil: less than a minute after returning to full strength, Gagner and Patrick O'Sullivan took turns in the penalty box. Although Edmonton killed Gagner's two minutes, Mike Modano cut O'Sullivan's infraction in half when he doubled his club's lead.

With just over seven minutes left in the frame and trailing 17-2 on the shot clock, the Oilers finally got a break. 25 seconds into Barch's holding minor, Ryan Potulny's persistence paid off when he lifted is own rebound over a sprawled-out Marty Turco to get the Oilers on the board and back within one.

Edmonton benefited from a second powerplay late in the period, but Turco prevented further scoring. After 20 minutes, Dallas was up 2-1 and 18 shots to 11.

SECOND PERIOD

Near the five-minute mark of the second, the Oilers tasted their first two-man-advantage when Stephane Robidas and Ott shared the Stars penalty box for 1:08. Edmonton managed two shots on the extended powerplay but Turco turned away each attempt.

Dallas hit 20 shots before the midway point of the game, but it would take 22 for them to rebuild a two-goal lead. With only Strudwick and Dubnyk in their way, Ott and Jamie Benn paired up for a crisp play that resulted in Benn's ninth of the season and a 3-1 game.

After sinking into a 17-2 shot hole in the first 13 minutes of the game, the Oilers had dug themselves out completely by the final minute of the second period. Although the club missed a picture-perfect scoring opportunity on an open net, Gagner made up for it with a top-shelf snapshot to get the Oilers within one and up 25 shots to 23 with 20 minutes left to play.

THIRD PERIOD

The Oilers and Stars swept end to end and topped 30 shots through the final frame but both goalies kept the score consistent. With 1:02 left in regulation and the Oilers net sitting empty, Gagner got the puck and fired on Turco. Although the goalie made the save, the puck bounced off a defenceman's skate and into the net, tying the game at three.

The Rexall Place crowd went wild after the goal as the game seemed destined for overtime. But with 22.2 seconds left, James Neal crashed the party by lifting the puck over Dubnyk to renew Dallas' lead.

The Oilers couldn't accomplish a second game-tying goal and suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 loss Friday night.