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Stars, Oilers continue fight for postseason berth

Feb 19, 2009 - 3:40 PM Edmonton (29-24-4) at Dallas (28-21-7) 8:30 p.m. EST

DALLAS (Ticker) -- The playoff race continues to remain tight in the Western Conference. The bottom eleven teams are within just nine points of one another as they fight for the final four playoff spots.

It doesn't get much tighter than the grapple between the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers, who currently occupy the last two postseason slots and are within a single point of one another. The two clubs square off on Thursday night in a showdown that brings significant implications.

The Stars have recovered from a miserable start to the season, when they seemed destined to have their five-year playoff streak snapped. But despite a season-ending knee injury to captain Brenden Morrow, they have rebounded to vault back into the race. They won five in a row at one point and put together a 10-goal performance earlier this month in a blowout victory over the New York Rangers.

The Oilers, meanwhile, are trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season. They had their three-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday against the conference's best team, San Jose. Patrick Marleau scored twice in just under four minutes in the second period as the Sharks netted three goals in the session en route to a 4-2 victory.

The Oilers have won two of the first three meetings with the Stars this season.