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BOX SCORE
DALLAS (AP) – By absorbing more punishment than they gave, the
Edmonton Oilers are heading home with a chance to take control of
their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars.
Dan Cleary, Rem Murray and Anson Carter scored power-play
goals as Edmonton took out the frustrations of a 13-game losing
streak in Dallas, beating the Stars 4-3 on Saturday and tying their
first-round series at one game apiece.
|  | | Tommy Salo makes one of his 22 saves on Mike Keane in the second period. Salo earned his first career win at Reunion Arena. |
The teams left immediately after the game for 1,700-mile flights
to Edmonton, where the series resumes Sunday evening.
The Oilers see the trip home as their chance to bury Dallas,
which has eliminated them from the last three postseasons.
"This was the game we really, really wanted to focus on to give
us home-ice advantage," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said.
"We've played very well at Skyreach Center all year long and we
know what an advantage our fans will give us."
The Oilers came out slugging, but trailed 1-0 after only 26
seconds on a goal by Mike Keane. They stuck to their hard-hitting
game plan and wound up luring the Stars into being more combative
than the officials allowed.
Dallas, which hadn't lost in 14 games and had won 13 of the last
15 playoff games against Edmonton, committed seven penalties in the
first period and 13 for the game. The Stars had just five in Game
1, which they won 2-1 in overtime.
Dallas fans turned ugly, too, throwing freebie towels, programs
and drinks onto the ice to protest a high-sticking penalty against
Brett Hull with 2:32 left. More junk was hurled after the buzzer,
most of it aimed at the Oilers.
"We retaliated a little and that's not our game," defenseman
Darryl Sydor said. "We've got to be more disciplined."
The Oilers scored on three of their first six power plays and
finished 3-of-10. Edmonton was 0-for-2 with the man advantage in
Game 1.
The bad blood, which is to be expected from teams meeting for
the fifth straight postseason, made for an exciting, intense game.
There were lots of hard hits that were clean – or, at least, not
penalized – and the teams seemed to trade scoring chances every few
seconds.
Oilers goaltender Tommy Salo handled it better than counterpart
Ed Belfour. Despite the soft, early goal by Keane, Salo rebounded
to win for only the second time in 11 playoff games. He made 22
saves for his first career victory in Reunion Arena.
Belfour, who had 27 stops, typified Dallas' lack of composure by
getting penalized twice in a span of 3:35 midway through the first
period.
"We made it hard for him to see the puck today," said
Edmonton's Mike Grier.
Belfour's first penalty, for tripping Grier, started the power
play that resulted in Cleary's goal, which tied the game at 1. The
second penalty was for roughing Georges Laraque immediately after
he scored to make it 2-2. That goal came 22 seconds after Joe
Nieuwendyk scored for Dallas on a power play.
A few minutes later, Nieuwendyk had to be helped off the ice
after being hit in the leg by hard-charging Scott Ferguson.
Nieuwendyk was taken to a hospital for an MRI exam and did not
return. Further details of his status were not immediately
available.
Typical pushing and shoving followed the hit on Nieuwendyk, then
another round of blows began when Ferguson was spotted standing
alone near his bench, smirking.
Cleary came out of the pile with a cut on the side of his nose
and Dallas' John MacLean was sent to the locker room. Cleary and
teammate Ryan Smyth were penalized for roughing, as were MacLean
and teammate Derian Hatcher. Ferguson was not penalized for the
blow that started it all.
Another Dallas penalty seconds later gave Edmonton a power play
and Murray capitalized on it. His goal put Edmonton ahead for good
with 1:46 left in the first period with a long shot that Carter
screened from Belfour.
Carter scored in the second period to extend the lead to 4-2.
Sydor got the Stars within 4-3, but Salo came up with many big
saves in the third period to seal Edmonton's first win in Dallas
since May 9, 1998.
"Tommy has played well all season. For him to pick it up in the
playoffs is a big lift for us," Edmonton's Ryan Smyth said.
The Oilers have had much more success against Dallas in
Edmonton. They went 1-1 against the Stars there this season and 1-1
in last year's playoffs.
"We're going to take home some confidence with the split
here," captain Doug Weight said.
Game notes
Dallas last lost March 11 in Colorado. ... Edmonton's Ethan
Moreau injured his foot in the first period and did not return.
"It doesn't look good," MacTavish said. ... Stars general manager
Bob Gainey isn't going to Edmonton. He'll be running in the Boston
Marathon on Monday. His first-time effort has raised $35,000 for
cancer research.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Edmonton Clubhouse
Dallas Clubhouse
Oilers-Stars Series Page
Stars' Nieuwendyk leaves game with knee injury
RECAPS
Detroit 4
Los Angeles 0
Buffalo 4
Philadelphia 3
San Jose 1
St. Louis 0
Pittsburgh 2
Washington 1
Edmonton 4
Dallas 3
Toronto 3
Ottawa 0
Colorado 2
Vancouver 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Anson Carter's slapshot gives Edmonton a two-goal advantage.
avi: 1227 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Joe Nieuwendyk scores with a wrist shot.
avi: 1211 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Daniel Cleary scores the power-play goal for Edmonton.
avi: 1115 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Mike Keane's slapshot puts Dallas on the board.
avi: 880 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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