Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop came on in relief and stopped all 18 shots he faced while adding an assist in a 6-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon.
Antoine Roussel opened the scoring 6:36 into the game. He was behind the net but banked a shot in off Cam Talbot’s left leg. Just over two minutes later, Alexander Radulov’s wrister made it 2-0 Stars. Dallas had two power-play chances to make it 3-0, but instead, the Oilers scored shorthanded. Drake Caggiula converted a two-on-one with Connor McDavid to pull the Oilers within a goal. Just 52 seconds later, McDavid scored on a power play to tie it up.
The first period also featured two fights. Milan Lucic made short work of Greg Pateryn. Later, Jamie Oleksiak scored a knockdown of Patrick Maroon.
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Caggiula converted a rebound 42 seconds into the second period to make it 3-2 Oilers. That was it in the Stars goal for Kari Lehtonen who was pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots, bringing Bishop on in relief. Devin Shore pulled the Stars even at 7:57 when his shot deflected in off Oscar Klefbom’s left. Radek Faksa tallied with just 1:20 left in the second to put the Stars back in front.
“They stuck with it a little bit longer than we did,” said Oilers head coach Todd McLellan. “This was a strange game in my opinion. We got the start we wanted. We played exceptionally well. We were pressing. They scored on their first two shots. That puts you behind the eight ball. When you haven’t won a lot, you worry about how the team will respond. Well, we responded really well. We came back. We pressed and pushed. Then it got away from us a little later in the game.”
Jamie Benn extended the Stars lead with 6:30 to go in the third. It was Dallas’ first third-period goal in nine games. While on a later power play, Bishop sent a stretch pass to Jason Spezza, who went in and beat Talbot glove side.
McDavid had a goal and two assists.
The Oilers went with new line combinations, with Caggiula joining McDavid and Patrick Maroon. Leon Draisaitl played right wing with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Lucic.
The Oilers drop to 7-11-2 on the season. They’ll play Game 2 of their five-game road trip Tuesday in St. Louis.
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