EDMONTON — Mattias Janmark and the Edmonton Oilers can score goals in bunches but have had their problems preventing opponents from doing the same.
The Oilers hope Thursday night was a step in the right direction to changing that as Janmark scored twice to lead Edmonton to a second straight win, a 4-1 decision over the Dallas Stars.
“It was the type of game we needed,” said Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft. “I thought our energy level was good and our details were good and we found a way to beat a really good hockey team.
"They were averaging five goals a game and we won 4-1. To me, that sticks with the template we keep talking about here.”
Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist while Warren Foegele also scored for the Oilers (38-23-8) who have won six of their last eight games overall.
“We are always hungry to continue to get better,” said Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse. “We can definitely take some good pieces from that game and build on them.
"That is a good sign for us here. We have a lot of important hockey coming up.”
Wyatt Johnston replied for the Stars (37-19-13) who suffered a second straight loss.
“I thought we didn’t really get going at any point and that’s tough,” said Stars defender Esa Lindell. “When you don’t start well, we fell behind.
"They played well, but I think that was more on us. Our structure that we lean on and how we play, we didn’t really do that and that’s the result we get.”
Edmonton opened the scoring 12:12 into the first period. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made a pretty feed through the crease to Foegele, who registered his 14th goal of the season with Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger going the other way.
The Stars came close to scoring on a power play during a mad scramble in front of Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner. But defender Vincent Desharnais cleared the loose puck in front and sent it up ice to McDavid, who then dished it to Janmark for his seventh.
McDavid picked up his 130th point of the season and extended his home game points streak to a career-high 15 games.
After a scoreless second, Dallas finally got on the board midway through the third period. Johnston capped a wild flurry in Edmonton's end with his 19th of the season.
Edmonton got that back a couple of minutes later on the power play. Leon Draisaitl found McDavid in the slot and the Oilers captain picked the top corner for his league-leading 57th goal.
The Oilers got some insurance with just under three minutes to play. Janmark scored his second of the game into an empty net shortly after teammate Nick Bjugstad rang one off the post.
“Getting in the hole in the first period and playing behind again just like the other night, it’s not a good recipe for us,” said Stars head coach Pete DeBoer. “You have to score more than once to win and I didn’t think we did enough to get to the net, to get inside to penetrate to score.”
NOTES
The Oilers were without Zach Hyman (undisclosed), Ryan McLeod (upper body) and Ryan Murray (back). Hyman did take the morning skate… Out with injuries for the Stars were Tyler Seguin (lower body), Mason Marchment (lower body) and Scott Wedgewood (lower body)… Dallas forward Roope Hintz played his 300th NHL game… The Stars have been in the top six in faceoff percentages for the last six and came into the contest leading the league in that category at 54.9 per cent… Dallas is one of four NHL teams with a goal differential of plus-50 or greater. Edmonton ranked sixth at plus-38… With Draisaitl joining McDavid by hitting the 100-point mark on the season Tuesday, it was the second time in NHL history that teammates were the first two players to 100 points in consecutive seasons, joining Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins in 1973-74 and 1974-75… The Oilers held a moment of silence before the game to honour two Edmonton policemen killed in the line of duty earlier Thursday.
UP NEXT
Both teams are back in action Saturday.
The Oilers make a brief trip to Seattle to face the Kraken in an important Pacific Division tilt.
The Stars conclude their six-game road trip in Calgary against the Flames.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2023.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press
