Benn, Bachman Lead Stars Past Oilers
DALLAS (AP) – Jamie Benn scored twice, including the tiebreaker in the third period, rookie Richard Bachman made 25 saves and the Dallas Stars extended their home dominance over the Edmonton Oilers with a 4-1 victory on Saturday.
With the teams even at 1, Benn went hard to the net, collected the rebound of Adam Burish's shot, and lifted the puck over sprawling Edmonton goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin at 7:03 of the final period. It was Benn's 13th of the season.
Jordan Eberle, Edmonton's leading scorer with 17 goals and 43 points, sustained a knee injury in the opening period and did not return.
Mike Ribeiro also had two goals, giving him four in two games, and Loui Eriksson contributed three assists for Dallas.
The Stars haven't lost at home to the Oilers in regulation since Dec. 8, 2006, going 10-0-1 during that span.
Ribeiro skated behind the Edmonton net and flipped a shot toward the goal that banked off Edmonton's Josh Green and past Khabibulin at 13:39 of the final period to stretch the lead to 3-1.
Ribeiro added an empty-netter with 1:14 remaining.
Bachman was a late fill-in for Kari Lehtonen, who was set to start but wasn't available because he was feeling ill prior to the game.
Taylor Hall had the Edmonton goal and the 38-year-old Khabibulin stopped 30 shots for the Oilers, who completed a season-long seven-game road trip at 1-6-0.
Hall was credited with the only goal of the first period at 17:19 when his shot from the low slot hit Dallas defenseman Alex Goligoski, flipping into the air, over Bachman and past the goal line.
Benn pulled Dallas even at 1, skating up the slot and converting Trevor Daley's centering pass at 14:39 of the second period.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
