Stars Lose To Oilers
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EDMONTON, Alberta — Faint hope deteriorated Friday for the Dallas Stars after a devastating 4-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
The Stars were clinging to the last gasps of life in their playoff chase, sitting eight points behind the hard-charging Winnipeg Jets for the final wild card spot and desperately needed what was supposed to be a relatively easy two points.
It wasn’t.
Instead, it was a back-breaking loss that all but crushes any chance the Stars have to make the playoffs.
“That was a tough one,” said Dallas center Shawn Horcoff. “We didn’t play the game we have been playing lately that had made us successful. It cost us tonight.
“We had some chances, but we gave up way too many the other way. That’s the type of game we have been trying to get away. Tonight we probably gave up more odd-man rushes than we had in our last 10 or 15. It is pretty disappointing.”
Edmonton took it to the visitors right off the bat, with right winger Jordan Eberle scoring 33 seconds after the opening faceoff. It would turn out to be the winning goal as Edmonton goalie Richard Bachman pitched
a 29-save shutout.
“On a selfish note, it feels good to beat them,” said Bachman, who spent four years in the Stars organization. “Our guys did some really good things, blocking shots when I couldn’t see them and capitalizing on our opportunities.
“We gave them a few odd-man rushes that we probably didn’t like, but it was a really good hockey game.”
It was still only 1-0 after 40 minutes, but it should have probably been about 6-5 as the two teams played wild end-to-end hockey littered with scoring chances.
“I don’t think we played very well,” said Stars coach Lindy Ruff. “It started with the first shift, turning the puck over and getting scored against. We had a lot of turnovers. We had been playing pretty well defensively, but we didn’t tonight. There were a lot of odd-man situations.
“We just seemed a step behind.”
And through it all, Bachman and Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen, who stopped 24 of 28 shots, were superb.
“It was definitely fun for the fans,” said Eberle. “But I think (head coach Todd Nelson) might have had a heart attack. I honestly didn’t like our first two periods, we were cheating all over the ice and they were getting opportunities from it. Lucky for us, Bach brought his game tonight.
“In the third period we started playing the right way.”
Edmonton pulled away in the third getting goals from center Derek Roy at 9:24 and Benoit Pouliot at 13:32.
“I had a feeling it was going to turn into a game like that,” said Bachman.
“Just from watching Dallas this year, what they have, and the skill we have. Both teams like to run and gun and that’s kind of what it was there for a little bit.”
American Hockey League call-up Andrew Miller rounded out the night by scoring on a penalty shot for his first ever NHL goal.
“It was pretty fun,” said Miller. “Usually I get a little nervous, but I was able to calm down and take some breaths, do my move and luckily it went in.
“I’ll cherish this one forever.”
Dallas won’t.
“We got away from the way we like to play,” said Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski. “We turned a couple of pucks over and they have a lot of guys who can make plays on the rush. It was a back-and-forth game that we didn’t want it to be.
“We can’t afford to give up any points right now. We knew we probably had to win out, maybe room to lose a couple of points at best. This loss hurts.”
