Stars stop Oilers in shootout
Canadian Press
1/5/2007 1:41:00 AM
EDMONTON (CP) - The Dallas Stars saved face in a game they looked destined to squander.
Thanks to a bizarre gaffe, the Edmonton Oilers did, too.
Sergei Zubov and Jussi Jokinen scored in a shootout as the Stars overcame a strange tying goal to beat the struggling Oilers 6-5 Thursday night.
Dallas rallied from 4-1 down with four unanswered goals, but needed the shootout heroics after Ales Hemsky tied the game for Edmonton with two seconds left in regulation. Hemsky's dramatic goal came just moments after Stars forward Patrik Stefan lost control of the puck in the Edmonton crease, with the Oiler net empty in favour of an extra attacker.
Stefan enjoyed a laugh afterwards, grateful his team emerged with the win.
''They may show it a million times for years to come,'' joked Stefan. ''I mean, we came out with the two points so it's easy to laugh about it right now.
''It's not like I missed the net, I saw it was bad ice and I had so much time so I just tried to carry it all the way to the net. As soon as I put it on my back hand it jumped over my stick. Not much I can do about that.''
Jere Lehtinen, Phillippe Boucher, Niklas Hagman, Mathias Tjarnqvist and Patrik Stefan had regulation goals for the Stars (26-15-1), who ended a two-game losing streak.
Petr Nedved scored in his first game for Edmonton since being picked up on waivers Tuesday from the Philadelphia Flyers. Hemsky, Ryan Smyth, Joffrey Lupul and Shawn Horcoff also had goals for the Oilers (19-18-3), who have lost nine of their last 12 games.
Oilers coach Craig MacTavish thanked the heavens for the single point.
''We were bestowed upon a miracle at the end,'' said MacTavish. ''I have never seen anything like it. It's one of those moments in hockey that you'll remember forever. It turned a disaster into a debacle.''
Trailing 4-2 after 40 minutes, Dallas roared back to tie the game with a pair of power-play goals just 32 seconds apart early in the third. With the Stars enjoying a two-man advantage, Lehtinen blasted in a slapshot from close range at 3:20.
Boucher made it 4-4 at 3:52, firing a shot over Oiler goalie Dwayne Roloson's right shoulder.
The Stars took their first lead of the game four minutes later on a great individual effort from Hagman, who outwaited Roloson and slid a desperation shot into the Oilers net with defenceman Matt Greene draped all over him.
The Stars had a chance to put the game away, but Stefan's stumble gave the Oilers a final chance. At the other end, Hemsky banged a loose puck past Dallas netminder Marty Turco at 19:58 to stun the Stars and force overtime.
''That was bizarre,'' said Dallas defenceman Darryl Sydor. ''Seconds left with an empty net and then it's down in our end and tie game. I've never seen any thing like that and you probably won't see anything like that again for a long time.''
The Oilers got off to a quick start, scoring just 49 seconds in when Lupul steered a rebound to Smyth, who slid a backhand past Stars starting netminder Mike Smith.
Smyth has recorded at least one point in all five games he has played since his return from a broken thumb.
Edmonton padded its lead three-and-a-half minutes later when Smyth dropped a pass to a trailing Horcoff, who beat Smith with a shot to the top right corner.
Dallas cut the Edmonton lead in half three minutes into the second when Stefan snapped a quick wrist shot past Roloson.
A half-minute later, Smith was knocked silly when a Marc-Andre Bergeron slapshot hit him square in the mask. He remained in the game, but allowed goals to Nedved and Lupul and was pulled in favour of Turco after surrendering four goals on 17 shots through two periods.
Dallas got one back before the end of the period when Tjarnqvist slid the puck in while falling down for his first goal of the year.
The Oilers kick off a three-game road trip on Friday in Vancouver while the Stars travel to Calgary for a match on Saturday.
