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Stars continue playoff push, top Oilers

Mar 3, 2012 - 6:54 AM Edmonton, AB (Sports Network) - Kari Lehtonen came up with 19 saves on 20 shots as he backstopped the Dallas Stars to a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place on Friday.

Radek Dvorak, Tomas Vincour and Michael Ryder scored for the Stars, who have won five of their last six games.

With 73 points, the Stars moved three points clear of Los Angeles and Colorado for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Dallas is also even in points with San Jose.

"It was nice for us to get a couple greasy, ugly goals," Lehtonen said. "We played really tight the whole third period and they didn't get to start any kind of comeback."

Sam Gagner scored and Nikolai Khabibulin yielded two goals on 14 shots for Edmonton, which has dropped three of its last four contests.

After a scoreless first period in which Lehtonen stopped seven Oilers shots and Khabibulin turned aside four Dallas attempts, the Stars finally broke the deadlock 8:35 into the second stanza.

Holding the puck behind the Oilers net, Vernon Fiddler moved out to the right corner, spun back and threw it on goal from a sharp angle. The puck caromed off several players in front before Dvorak got his stick on it and jammed it home.

Just over four minutes later, the Stars made it 2-0 when Jamie Benn sent a centering pass toward the slot from the left wing. It hit off bodies in front and caromed off the back boards to Vincour, who tapped in what probably was the easiest NHL goal of his career.

Ryder added an empty-netter with 1:28 to play to make it 3-0.

Gagner spoiled what would have been Lehtonen's 20th career shutout with just 30 seconds to play when he got a perfect cross-ice pass from Ales Hemsky and ripped a one-timer past the Dallas netminder.

"We made two really poor plays at the net, and that was the difference in the game," Oilers head coach Tom Renney said.

Game Notes

It was Dvorak's first goal in his last 40 games...Dallas has collected points in its last six consecutive games (5-0-1)...The Stars improved to 7-0-1 against Canadian teams this season...Dallas improved to 20-0-2 when leading after two periods...Khabibulin fell to 17-20-3 in his career against the Stars...Dallas went 0-for-2 with the man advantage, while Edmonton did not have any power play chances.