Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Tyler Seguin scored twice as the Dallas
Stars held off the struggling Edmonton Oilers for a 3-2 victory on Tuesday.
Rookie defenseman John Klingberg finished with a goal and an assist for the
Stars, who won their third straight game.
Kari Lehtonen turned aside 35 shots in the win.
Boyd Gordon and Taylor Hall each lit the lamp for Edmonton, which received 30
saves from Viktor Fasth in defeat.
Edmonton dropped its seventh consecutive game and fell to 0-11-1 against
Western Conference opponents this season. The Oilers also dropped into 30th
place in the NHL by virtue of one more regulation loss than the Blue Jackets
and Sabres. All three teams have 14 points.
The Stars took a 2-1 lead 5:59 into the second period after Seguin took a
stretch pass from Klingberg through the neutral zone and finished off a
breakaway with a slick backhander.
Dallas had a goal called off midway through the middle stanza as Stars forward
Ryan Garbutt pushed a defender into Fasth.
Jamie Benn gathered a loose puck down low and sent a pass to Seguin, who beat
a screened Fasth with a high wrister for a 3-1 advantage with 2:18 remaining
in the frame.
Jordan Eberle sent a no-look pass through his skates from behind the net to
Hall, who made it a one-goal game with a quick shot from the slot six minutes
into the third.
With under five minutes to play, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ rebound attempt in close
got behind Lehtonen, but Cody Eakin was there to sweep it away and keep
Dallas’ lead intact. Edmonton pulled Fasth with under a minute to play, but
failed to force an extra session.
Klingberg fooled Fasth with a rising slap shot just outside of the Edmonton
zone for a 1-0 lead at 12:49 of the first.
With 30 seconds to play in the opening stanza, Gordon gathered a turnover and
raced down the ice on a 2-on-1 short-handed breakaway. His original shot was
blocked by sliding Stars defenseman Jason Demers, but Gordon tapped his own
rebound into the back of the net for a tied game.
Game Notes
The Stars now own an 11-1-2 record against Edmonton over their last 14
matchups … Nugent-Hopkins tallied his 100th career assist on Hall’s 100th
NHL goal … Benn extended his point streak to four games … Oilers
defenseman Andrew Ference played in his 850th career game … Forward Ales
Hemsky, who spent his first 11 seasons with the Oilers, faced his former team
for the first time since signing with Dallas in the offseason … The two
teams will resume the season series Dec. 21 at Rexall Place.
