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Lehtinen, Morrow help Stars complete sweep of Oilers

Feb 23, 2008 - 6:37 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- Jere Lehtinen and captain Brenden Morrow helped the Dallas Stars continue their success against the Edmonton Oilers.

Lehtinen scored twice and Morrow added a shorthanded goal and an assist as the Stars on Friday posted their ninth win in 10 meetings with the Oilers, a 5-2 two victory at American Airlines Center.

Loui Eriksson and Mike Modano also tallied and Jussi Jokinen added a pair of assists for Dallas, which swept the four-game season series with Edmonton.

"They were all close games, except this one," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "You've got to look at their team - they compete very hard. They've had injuries to some key players, but they're going to compete hard. I don't know if it's the rivalry with us, but they are going to compete hard."

"We've had some tight ones; good, hard games," Dallas goaltender Marty Turco added. "They're a desperate team. It was pretty obvious tonight."

With the triumph, the Stars improved to 22-4-2 at home vs. the Oilers since the franchise moved from Minnesota to the Lone Star State.

Eriksson opened the scoring with 3:26 remaining in the first period, converting from the top of the crease for his career-high seventh goal of the season.

"It was a nice pass from Jussi, and I had an open net and just put it in," Eriksson said. "When you score, you gain confidence."

"We are looking for Loui to find some more opportunities like that, and his line brought some good energy," Tippett said. "We are looking for that on a more consistent basis."

Lehtinen doubled the lead with a power-play goal at 5:35 of the middle period. Shortly after a two-man advantage expired, Morrow fed Lehtinen from the left faceoff circle for the Finn's ninth of the campaign and a 2-0 bulge.

"We didn't have a lot of composure tonight," Oilers captain Ethan Moreau said. "We don't have the experience to stay in the game when we get down early."

Morrow made it a three-goal advantage with 2:47 to go in the second. After receiving a pass from Steve Ott, Morrow skated around Jarret Stoll and beat goaltender Mathieu Garon with a wrist shot for his 25th tally.

"My goal wasn't the way I drew it up because one move turned into about four," Morrow said. "But then I was able to put it in."

Garon was replaced by Dwayne Roloson to start the third after allowing three goals on 28 shots.

"The second period was embarrassing for us," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. "Frenetic play in our zone and not enough composure on our end."

Just over 4 1/2 minutes into the third, Lehtinen netted another power-play goal after intercepting a pass by Edmonton defenseman Matt Greene.

"We created a lot of scoring chances, and we want to keep getting better every game," Lehtinen said. "We competed hard, and we are going to do that every game the rest of the way. Everybody played hard tonight, and we matched their intensity."

Dustin Penner and Curtis Glencross halved the deficit for the Oilers with goals less than seven minutes apart, but Modano sealed the victory with an empty-netter with 1:59 remaining.

Turco made 20 saves for the Stars, who have won 10 of their last 12 games.

"We wanted to dominate, and it's been a while since we did that in a game," Turco said.

Roloson turned aside nine shots in the third for Edmonton, which has lost three in a row.

"He played well," MacTavish said of Roloson, who had not played since February 1. "He jumped in and played well. I thought this was a good situation to get him some playing time."

Penner got the Oilers on the board at 7:59 of the third, grabbing his own rebound and firing the puck inside the right goalpost during a power play for his 18th of the season.

Glencross drew Edmonton within 4-2 with 5:50 left, when he unleashed a shot from outside the left circle that bounced off Turco's left pad and into the net.