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Visnovsky, Garon help Oilers drill Stars

Dec 4, 2008 - 6:22 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky scored a goal and set up another and Mathieu Garon made 23 saves as the Edmonton Oilers pulled out a 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday.

Shawn Horcoff, Marc Pouliot, Ales Hemsky and Andrew Cogliano also tallied and Dustin Penner added two assists for the Oilers, who suffered a 4-3 setback to the Stars on Sunday for their sixth loss in eight games.

Mike Modano netted both goals for Dallas, which went 0-for-4 on the power play and failed to post its first three-game winning streak of the season.

Horcoff did not waste any time giving Edmonton the early edge, blasting a slap shot between the pads of goaltender Marty Turco just 71 seconds into the contest.

Visnovsky doubled the advantage with 12 seconds left in the first period, receiving a pass from Cogliano in the high slot and firing a slapper past Turco. The 32-year-old Visnovsky also picked up an assist on Pouliot's goal at 3:41 of the middle session.

"It's been a while since we scored five goals at home," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "It was nice to see some offense tonight. That was a huge goal by Lubo at the end of the first period on the power play."

It was enough offense for Garon, who was making his first start in nearly a month.

"It was good to come back. It's been a while since I played and since I got a start," Garon said. "I worked really hard in the last two or three weeks to be ready for that game. I got a bit lucky and the guys played really well in front of me."

Modano made things interesting in the third, beating Garon between the pads 67 seconds into the period and putting a shot into the top corner of the net with 1:40 remaining for his 11th goal of the season.

The tallies gave Modano 75 points in 63 career games against Edmonton.

"I've always enjoyed playing here. The crowd, and obviously the ice conditions, is one of the better ones in the league," Modano said of his success against the Oilers. "I don't know. Just play them enough that over time, good things happen."

But after a foolish turnover by the Stars, Hemsky fired the puck into an empty net with 51 seconds left to seal the win for the Oilers. Cogliano then scored with 13 seconds to play off a nice pass from Sam Gagner after Turco returned to the crease.

"We got off to a good start tonight, which has not been our forte here at home," MacTavish said. "It got a little hairy at the end, but it was nice to see those two late goals to win it."

Turco finished with 17 saves for the Stars, who went to the Western Conference finals last season but own the worst record in the conference so far this campaign.

"There's a danger that we don't climb out of it," Turco said of the early struggles. "We could win the rest of our games and I don't think that would be a problem."