Stars strengthen hold on first wild card with shootout win against Oilers

EDMONTON -- The Dallas Stars extended their lead for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference by rallying for a 3-2 shootout win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Thursday.

The Stars (41-31-6) moved five points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, who hold the second wild card. They trail the St. Louis Blues by two points for third place in the Central Division.
"It was a tough game to play," said Dallas captain Jamie Benn, who scored the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout. "They're not playing for much, and we're playing for two big points. It's huge to get that two, and we'll move on and look forward to the] Vancouver [Canucks]."
***[WATCH: [All Stars vs. Oilers highlights]*
The Stars will try to finish their four-game road trip undefeated when they play at the Canucks on Saturday. They have won seven straight on the road, the longest active streak in the NHL.
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid scored for the Oilers (34-34-9), who are six points behind Colorado for the second wild card with five games remaining. Mikko Koskinen made 20 saves.
"I think we were the better team for large parts of the game," Draisaitl said. "I think we were in control. They have some skilled players over there who can make plays. But if we had capitalized on our chances, we probably would have won that game."

Dallas trailed by two goals before Alexander Radulov scored on the power play at 6:20 of the second period, one-timing a cross-ice pass from Tyler Seguin to make it 2-1.
Miro Heiskanen tied it 2-2 at 7:47 of the third period when he scored from the high slot off a pass from Jason Dickinson.
"We were lethargic [in the first period], we weren't skating," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "I thought it was more mental than physical. We had face-off plays that were there to execute, but two of five people were executing. When we started making those same plays in the second, everybody was on the same page."
Seguin scored in the second round of the shootout after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored Edmonton's only goal in the first round.
Anton Khudobin made 40 saves for the Stars.
"We were better in the first half, and they poured it on in the second half," McDavid said. "It is never fun to lose in a shootout. We had a lot of chances when it was 2-0 and even when it was 2-1. If we find a way to bear down on those, maybe it is a different game. Their goalie made some big saves and held them in it until they were able to take a little control in the third."
Draisaitl scored at 4:59 of the first period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. He one-timed a pass from McDavid at the bottom of right face-off circle for his 47th goal and 100th point of the season.

"I'm really happy for him," McDavid said. "He's a guy who has been coming along and really playing good hockey. There has been a lot made of his game, and I am really happy to see him do something like this."
McDavid scored his 40th goal at 1:08 of the second period, shooting the puck between his legs from in close to make it 2-0.

They said it

"It was a great pass from [Jason Dickinson]. I had good space there and I was able to take a shot, and it went in. It was a good goal for us. I just dragged it a little bit back behind me and shot it." -- Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen on his tying goal
"When he scored that goal, you just have to laugh. You don't see that every day. It was definitely something special. He does everything at top speed. As a D-man, you are so thankful he is on your team and not embarrassing you." -- Oilers defenseman Matt Benning on Connor McDavid's goal

Need to know

Radulov extended his point streak to four games (two goals, three assists). … McDavid (114) and Draisaitl (101) are the first set of Oilers teammates to reach 100 points in a season since Jari Kurri (102) and Jimmy Carson (100) in 1988-89. … McDavid is the first Edmonton player to score at least 40 goals in back-to-back seasons since Kurri reached the mark for a seventh consecutive season in 1988-89. He had an NHL career-high 41 last season. … Referee Chris Lee left the game at 6:42 of the first period after he collided with Oilers forward Joseph Gambardella.

What's next

Stars: At the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN360, SNP, FS-SW, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; SN1, CITY, SNE, SNO, SNW, PRIME, NHL.TV)