Stars cruise to 3rd straight win, end Oilers' streak

[December 04, 2018]  Brett Ritchie had a goal and an assist, Mattias Janmark recorded two assists, and Anton Khudobin turned away 28 shots at the Dallas Stars defeated the visiting Edmonton Oilers 4-1 on Monday to earn their third straight win.

Dallas got on the board at the 10:59 mark of the first period. Janmark snapped his stick on a one-timer from the point but got enough on the shot for the puck to head right to Jason Dickinson, who slammed it past Edmonton goaltender Mikko Koskinen. Ritchie also got an assist on the goal.

After a scoreless second period, the Stars added to their lead two minutes into the third, and Janmark had a hand in that goal as well.

Janmark circled from mid-ice into the Edmonton zone, picking up a full head of steam as he split defenders and skated in on net. However, he lost the puck as he started to shoot, and it went across the crease to Ritchie, who slid a shot under Koskinen's right pad for a 2-0 advantage.

Dallas all but put away the game at the 7:24 mark of the third period as Jamie Benn scored a power-play goal off assists from Gavin Bayreuther and Alexander Radulov.

The Oilers pulled within 3-1 on Jujhar Khaira's goal with 5:24 to play as he backhanded a rebound of his own shot past Khudobin. Leon Draisaitl and Chris Wideman got assists on the score that allowed Edmonton to get back into the game.

But those hopes were dashed three minutes later when Esa Lindell whipped a shot from one end of the ice for an empty-net goal with Dallas short-handed.

Dallas Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin (35) and center Radek Faksa (12) defend against Edmonton Oilers right wing Alex Chiasson (39) during the third period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Oilers, who are 4-2-1 since hiring former Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock on Nov. 20 to replace the fired Todd McLellan.

Edmonton played without leading scorer Connor McDavid, who missed the game with an illness. It marked the first time McDavid did not dress this season and snapped his consecutive-games-played streak at 222 -- and 235 games including the Stanley Cup playoffs. McDavid hadn't missed a game since January 2016.

Dallas returns to the ice on Friday when it hosts San Jose, while Edmonton remains on the road for a game on Wednesday in St. Louis.

--Field Level Media

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.