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Oilers-Stars Preview

Apr 1, 2010 - 4:43 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Edmonton (24-45-7) at Dallas (34-29-14), 8:30 p.m. EDT

While the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers will likely both miss the playoffs, their matchups have been hotly contested.

The teams have played three one-goal games heading into their final meeting of the season Friday night in Dallas.

Edmonton (24-45-7) beat Dallas (34-29-14) twice in shootouts before falling 4-3 in regulation in the last matchup Jan. 22. The league-worst Oilers have used three different goalies while Marty Turco has started each meeting for the Stars, posting a 2.86 goals-against average.

Turco has struggled in shootouts all season, losing eight of 11 and all five at home. The Oilers' 3-2 shootout win Dec. 5 ended their 0-4-1 skid in Dallas.

Turco and Kari Lehtonen have split the last six starts for Dallas, which is 3-2-1 in that span but is seven points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Stars got 29 saves from Turco and Steve Ott's first career hat trick in Wednesday's 5-1 home win over San Jose.

"We've got a lot of pride in this dressing room," said Ott, who scored on the power play, short-handed and at even strength. "We might not make the playoffs, or it's pretty unrealistic right now, but to finish with character and finish with pride, I think means more than anything."

Loui Eriksson and Brian Sutherby each added a goal and an assist as Dallas matched its goal total over the three previous games. Eriksson has 10 points in nine games while Sutherby ended a 12-game drought without a point.

"We've won a lot of different ways. I thought tonight we played a very, very strong game," coach Marc Crawford said. "We killed penalties well, we had a really good goaltending performance and I thought physically we were very assertive."

Edmonton fell to 0-7-1 in its last eight road games after a 5-4 loss at Detroit on Tuesday. The Oilers rallied from a four-goal deficit to tie the game before giving up the winner with 1:07 left.

"We generated some offense after we fell behind by three goals," center Mike Comrie said. "It wasn't the start we wanted. But you gotta keep playing hard. We stuck with it."

Defenseman Tom Gilbert scored twice while Comrie added a goal and an assist after going five straight games without a point. Center Andrew Cogliano had two assists and has 10 points in his last 10 games.

The Oilers were outshot 36-15 after two periods, and Jeff Deslauriers finished with 39 saves.

"Deslauriers was terrific for us, obviously," coach Pat Quinn said. "It could have been 15-0 after the first."

Deslauriers, though, is 1-5-0 with a 4.12 GAA in his last six starts. He's lost 13 of 14 road games and the Oilers are 1-18-1 in their last 20.