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Stars return home to face Oilers

Dec 23, 2006 - 4:31 PM Edmonton (18-14-2) at Dallas (22-13-0) 8:00 pm EST

DALLAS (Ticker) -- The Dallas Stars concluded their three-game West Coast trip with an impressive victory. They hope the momentum carries over when they host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

Marty Turco was brilliant for the Stars in their last outing, a 3-0 blanking of the San Jose Sharks last Thursday. Turco has shut out the Sharks the last two times he faced them.

Turco recorded 20 saves in the win over San Jose while Jeff Halpern, Jussi Jokinen and Brenden Morrow scored the goals. The goaltender has gotten the majority of the work in the Dallas net this season, as he has gone 17-10-0 with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.

Petr Sykora's goal with 1:18 left in the third period lifted the Oilers to a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday. Jarret Stoll notched a shorthanded goal while Ales Hemsky scored the other Edmonton goal.

The Oilers are on top of the balanced Northwest Division with 38 points. Edmonton leads the last-place Vancouver Canucks by only three points and holds a one-point lead over second-place Calgary.