Stars hang on for 3-2 win in Dallas
Eighth game in two weeks takes toll on Edmonton as road woes continue
STARS 3, OILERS 2
DALLAS The heart-and-soul Matt Hendricks is fond of saying his Edmonton Oilers team often bends but seldom breaks. But on Thursday, a photo of his jock showed otherwise after he tumbled in front of blast from Alex Golikoski in the second period of the 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars.
There was a dent and a crack in his protective cup.
“Good thing that company makes a solid product … that’s a vital area,” said Hendricks, who missed a few shifts but doggedly returned as the weary and injury-riddled Oilers, playing their eighth game in the past 14 days, finished a goal short for the 15th time this season.
“I was hurting but I got out unscathed,” said Hendricks, who didn’t take it in the testicle, but close. “We’ve all been hit there before, all the fellas anyway, but this was scary, instant pain.”
“Lots of courage from Hendo to be in that shooting lane. He drives our team that way,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan, after watching him crumple to the ice, then skate off.
So while the pain of another close loss hurts, at least Hendricks got through the game. Defenceman Brandon Davidson didn’t. He left in the middle period.
“He took a hit to an area that’s pretty tender and he’s out next game (Saturday vs. Nashville at home), said McLellan, who had to go with five blue-liners for the last half of the game with Andrej Sekera playing almost 25 minutes and Darnell Nurse almost 23.
The Oilers, who beat Florida 4-2 to start the road trip, then fell 6-4 in Tampa, were offensively challenged again in Dallas with Teddy Purcell ripping one home on a power play and Nail Yakupov finding the short side on Antti Niemi with three minutes to go.
They couldn’t get any closer, falling behind 83 seconds into the game on Jason Spezza’s backhand goal after Justin Schultz couldn’t clear, then 2-0 and 3-1 in the second period as Jamie Benn (25-footer) after he flubbed a pass, and Jykri Jokipakka’s wrister that ramped off Benoit Pouliot’s stick.
In the end, another close L on the scorecard as their road woes continued; just six wins in 26 games.
“They got two slot-area goals when we were somewhat sloppy clearing the puck (Spezza and Benn), trying to make plays coming out of our zone and it cost us,” said McLellan. “Then we deflected one into our own net.”
“I look at our overall effort tonight with how we played in Game 3 of the season here (4-2 loss when Anders Nilsson stood on his head) and we’ve come a long way. They didn’t touch the puck that night and we were sloppy, all over the place. We have better structure now, good learning tool. Maybe we’re going the right way but those moral victories don’t put points in the bank.”
“We’re working our tails off but it’s frustrating when you see so many key guys go down,” said Purcell, who rifled a shot past Niemi to make it 2-1 late in the second period, but the celebration lasted only 15 seconds when Jokipakka scored.
“Benny (Pouliot) was trying to do the right thing. He’s on the defensive side of his man and he’s good at tipping those pucks … they’re usually for our team,” said Pouliot. “Bad luck.”
Oilers winger Jordan Eberle shrugged off the weariness. “That’s no excuse, we’re professional hockey players, you have to fight through that,” said Eberle, who did talk of the breaks they got.
“Benn was passing the puck, but it bounced over his stick, and he got it back and buried it past (Cam) Talbot. I think he’s got the most goals in the league and you give a guy like that a chance, and he’ll put it in.”