At the Rink: Stars at Oilers

EDMONTON -- The Dallas Stars are like a hamster in a wheel, currently on a good run but not making up much ground toward a berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Stars won nine of their past 11 games going in to play the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place on Friday (9:30 p.m. ET; SN1, TXA 21), but remain eight points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.

"There are a lot of good teams in this League and all we can control is what we can do right now and that's just keep winning games," Stars forward Jamie Benn said. "Then at the end of the year, we'll see where we're sitting."

Dallas is on a four-game winning streak. The Stars defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday to get within six points of the second wild card. However, Winnipeg defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on Thursday to restore its eight-point lead over Dallas.

"I think there is still ground there to be made up," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "Not everyone is going to keep on winning. I think some teams are going to play each other, and at the same time, if we keep winning, we can put the pressure on some other teams. We are playing well and our goal is to try to win them all. It's one game at a time, but I think there is ground there to be made up, and within three or four days, you can make up three or four points and I think we can do that."

In their 11 games after the NHL Trade Deadline on March 2, the Stars have gained two points on the Jets. Dallas has eight games left in the regular season.

"We just have to believe if we win out, or if we win at least seven, then 96 or 98 points has to get you in," Stars forward Shawn Horcoff said. "That's just our belief. We've put ourselves in a situation where it's really out of our control. We know that it really doesn't matter what other teams do, we have to win. But we've been facing this for a while now, we knew what it was going to be like and we put together at least a little bit of a good run here to give us a chance. These next two games are obviously huge for us."

The Oilers go into the game missing a number of key players. Four veterans sustained injuries in the past two games. Defensemen Andrew Ference (concussion) and Mark Fayne (shoulder) are out, as are veteran forwards Boyd Gordon (back) and Matt Hendricks (back).

Oilers goaltender Richard Bachman will start against his former team.

Bachman began his career in Dallas before joining the Oilers organization last season. He has not started a game for Edmonton since losing 7-4 against the Carolina Hurricanes on March 8. Kari Lehtonen will start in goal for Dallas.

"I think at least half that team has changed over the last two years," Bachman said. "There will be some new faces, but there will some old ones as well. For me, I'm just excited to be playing again. It hasn't been too long, but it's been long enough where you get that itch to get back on the ice and get some game time. I'm just excited to be playing in general."

Here are the projected lineups:

STARS

Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Eaves

Cody Eakin – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky

Antoine Roussel – Vernon Fiddler – Colton Sceviour

Curtis McKenzie – Shawn Horcoff – Brett Ritchie

Jyrki Jokipakka - Alex Goligoski

Patrik Nemeth – John Klingberg

Jordie Benn – Jason Demers

Kari Lehtonen

Jhonas Enroth

Scratched: Ryan Garbutt, Travis Moen, Trevor Daley

Injured: None

OILERS

Benoit Pouliot - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Teddy Purcell - Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov

Taylor Hall – Anton Lander – Andrew Miller

Luke Gazdic - Rob Klinkhammer – Matt Fraser

Oscar Klefbom - Justin Schultz

Martin Marincin – Nikita Nikitin

Keith Aulie – Brandon Davidson

Richard Bachman

Ben Scrivens

Scratched: None

Injured: Tyler Pitlick (lacerated spleen), Viktor Fasth (knee), Iiro Pakarinen (knee), Andrew Ference (upper body), Mark Fayne (shoulder), Boyd Gordon (back), Matt Hendricks (back)

Status report: Davidson was called up from the Oklahoma City Barons on an emergency recall due to Fayne's shoulder injury. … Klinkhammer will play center for the first time in his NHL career. … Stars forward Valeri Nichushkin, who hasn't played since Nov. 6 because of a groin injury, was assigned to Texas of the American Hockey League on a conditioning assignment.

Who's hot: Hall has a goal and two assists in his first three games back from a leg injury. … Nugent-Hopkins has four goals and one assist in his past five games. … Hemsky scored two goals in a 4-3 shootout win against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday. … Benn has scored four goals and three assists in his past four games.