Richard Bachman makes 29 saves, earns shutout as Oilers blank Stars 4-0

EDMONTON - Richard Bachman made 29 saves to record his second-career shutout as the Edmonton Oilers continued to mess with visiting team's playoff plans, dealing the Dallas Stars a blow with a 4-0 victory on Friday.

Jordan Eberle, Derek Roy, Benoit Pouliot and Andrew Miller scored for the Oilers (22-40-13), who have won two in a row.

Kari Lehtonen made 24 saves as the Stars (36-29-10) saw a four-game winning streak come to an end.

Dallas remains eight points back of Winnipeg for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, with just seven games left to play.

Edmonton got off to a quick start, scoring on the game's first shot just 33 seconds into the first. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fanned on a shot but then hooked the puck in front for Eberle, who beat Lehtonen for his 22nd goal of the season.

Since the NHL all-star break, only Dallas captain Jamie Benn has scored more points than Eberle.

Lehtonen kept it a one-goal game midway through the second period, stopping Nugent-Hopkins on a clear breakaway attempt.

Dallas had 23 shots on Edmonton backup goalie Bachman through 40 minutes, to 16 for Edmonton.

Edmonton made it 2-0 midway through the third, as a Nail Yakupov pass from behind the net went off the skate of defender Alex Goligoski to Roy, who snapped it past Lehtonen for his 12th of the season.

The Oilers went up by three goals a few minutes later as Taylor Hall spotted Pouliot at the side of the net during a scramble in the Dallas end and the veteran winger potted his 17th.

Edmonton rookie Miller was awarded a late penalty shot and scored his first-career NHL goal to make it 4-0.

The Stars wrap up a three-game trip in Vancouver on Saturday. The Oilers are idle until Monday when they travel to Colorado.

Notes - Dallas had six straight wins at Rexall Place extending back to Feb. 15, 2011… Dallas defenceman Trevor Daley (lower body) remained out with injury and is day to day. Winger Valeri Nichushkin was activated on a return from a hip injury but was sent to the AHL's Texas Stars for a conditioning stint… The Oilers are a badly-wounded bunch with injuries to Matt Hendricks (back), Tyler Pitlick (spleen), Viktor Fasth (knee), Iiro Pakarinen (knee), Mark Fayne (shoulder), Andrew Ference (upper body) and Boyd Gordon (back).