Lehtonen stops 19 shots as Stars stifle Oilers 3-1

[March 03, 2012]  EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- Kari Lehtonen made 19 saves for his 25th win of the season as the Dallas Stars beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Friday night.

Michael Ryder, Radek Dvorak and Tomas Vincour scored for the Stars, who have won five of their last six -- with the lone loss coming in a shootout against Pittsburgh.

Sam Gagner scored the only goal for the Oilers, who have lost three of their last four and remained second-to-last in the NHL.

There was a bit of a scare for the Oilers early on as Taylor Hall crashed into the boards and skated gingerly to the bench, but he was able to return and play the rest of the game.

Neither team was able to create much in a scoreless first period. Edmonton had seven shots on Lehtonen, while Dallas managed just four on Nikolai Khabibulin in the Oilers' net.

The deadlock broke 8:35 into the second period when Khabibulin was unable to clear the rebound from a shot by Eric Nystrom and Dvorak was able to knock his fourth of the season in from the doorstep.

The Stars went up 2-0 four minutes later on an Oilers miscue as defenseman Corey Potter crashed into his goalie and took him out of the play, allowing Vincour to score into an empty net. It was just Dallas' ninth shot.

Lehtonen kept the Oilers off the board with 10 minutes to play as he stopped a point-blank blast from Ryan Whitney, probably the best chance for Edmonton to that point in the match.

Dallas put the game away with about a minute and a half to play as Ryder sent his 27th of the season into an empty net.

Edmonton scored a meaningless goal with 30 seconds left to break Lehtonen's shutout bid as Ales Hemsky made a nice cross-ice feed to Gagner and he snapped a shot into the net before the Stars goalie could come across.

NOTES: It was the third meeting of the season between the teams. Dallas won both of the previous games by 4-1 scores at home. ... Former Oiler Sheldon Souray made his first appearance at Rexall Place in Edmonton since demanding a trade two years ago. The Oilers sent him to the minors for all of the 2010-11 season before he was bought out and claimed by Dallas last summer. ... Khabibulin returned to the net after missing the last five games with a groin injury. ... Stars forward Jamie Benn played in his second contest since missing six games due to a leg laceration.

[Associated Press]

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