GAME STORY: Stars 5, Oilers 1

DALLAS, TX - The Oilers fell behind 3-0 in the first period and never recovered, dropping a 5-1 decision to the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon. Al Montoya stopped 13 of 14 shots in relief of Cam Talbot in his Oilers debut.

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The Oilers five-game road trip continues with a game in Chicago on Sunday. The game can be seen on Sportsnet West and heard on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED. Puck drop is 1:08 p.m. MST.
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"It's difficult but maybe the best," Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said about Montoya having to come into the game partway through with the game already 4-0. "With him as an individual, not a lot of time to think about things. I thought for a goaltender who hasn't played in a little while and he's just come to a brand new environment, I thought he played well. He made some sharp saves, controlled the game back there, when to freeze it and when not to. So that was a positive."
Montoya made the best of the situation and played well after missing the past two months due to a concussion.
"It was fun to be playing hockey again. It was a long road back and I'm just happy to be back," he began.
"It was a long road back. I haven't had much time to skate but I feel good, which goes a long way. I was excited to get back in there and start playing hockey."
Leon Draisaitl was hauled down in the Stars zone by Greg Pateryn only 80 seconds into the game, giving the Oilers an early power play.
Shortly after the Stars killed off that penalty, Alex Radulov took advantage of a turnover to break in alone on Oilers starting goaltender Cam Talbot. Radulov's backhand attempt went high and into the crowd and on the play, Andrej Sekera tapped the Russian winger with a one-handed slash to put Dallas on the man advantage.
Almost halfway through the opening frame, shots on goal were 8-1 for Edmonton.
"I thought the first period we came out strong and the work ethic was there but just a couple of mental mistakes that ended up in the back of our net," noted Oilers captain Connor McDavid.
The goals started to come for Dallas with 9:39 to go in the first, Tyler Seguin and Radulov broke in on a two-on-one with Drake Caggiula the lone man back. Seguin fed Radulov the puck and he one-timed it on goal. Talbot got a piece of it, but not enough as the puck trickled over the line.
Talbot made a handful of saves during a flurry in front of the goal with seven minutes to go in the opening period. His best stop came off Radulov, sliding across to get his right pad on the puck and then smothering the rebound.
However, off the ensuing faceoff, Radulov backhanded a pass across the crease over to Benn who rifled it in for his 17th of the season.
Stars starting goaltender Ben Bishop made a tough stop on Milan Lucic's shot from the left circle and then an even tougher stop on the rebound by Jesse Puljujarvi in front to keep the Oilers off the scoresheet with four minutes to go in the first.
Less than a minute later, Seguin completed a three-way passing play, tapping in a precision-like feed from Radulov off the side boards.
After one period, Oilers were down 3-0 despite having a 14-11 lead on the shot clock. The Seguin-Benn-Radulov line had six points in the opening period alone.

"We didn't have an answer for that line. They scored just about every way they could except for on the power play. They created a lot of havoc for us in our end, scored on lateral plays from the corner to the net fronts. We were poor in that area," McLellan stated.
"When you don't have an answer for the team's top players, you have a tough time winning."
The second period brought more of the same for Edmonton. Only three minutes in, Benn got in behind the Oilers defence and tried to pull a deke on Talbot but his shot hit the side of the net but just over a minute later, the game was 4-0 after Mattias Janmark's centring pass went off a skate in front.
Montoya then came in to replace Talbot one shift later with equipment trouble preventing an immediate replacement between the pipes. Montoya only faced one shot for the remainder of the period.
After 40 minutes, shots on goal were 30-20 for the Oilers.
1:14 into the final frame, Tyler Pitlick received two minutes for delay of game after clearing the puck over the glass from his own zone and Oilers only took 50 seconds to convert that man advantage into a goal. Draisaitl teed up a blast from the right circle past Bishop to put the Oilers on the board.

With McDavid and Hamhuis in the box for roughing and the two teams playing four-on-four, Seguin skated around the net before feeding John Klingberg in front. Klingberg made no mistake, putting the puck into the open side to regain the Stars' four-goal lead.
The Oilers have only scored twice in the last four games, something McLellan attributes in part to the blueline.
"Right now we're generating some chances and the puck's not going in the net. We've gone through phases where we've had fewer chances and we've scored many more goals. I don't know if it's a phase for us offensively but obviously we've got to get a little harder," McLellan began.
"And I think our back end, quite frankly, from the blueline can do a better job of managing the puck and getting shots through and creating for our forwards.
"We do a good job at times to keep plays alive. It gets up to the top and it can't die there. We need to get more from that area."