Game Recap

EDMONTON 3, DALLAS 2 (OT) EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - The Edmonton Oilers finally found a way to beat the Dallas Stars. Todd Marchant scored on a breakaway 31 seconds into overtime to give the Oilers a 3-2 victory over the Stars on Sunday night. It was Edmonton's first regular-season victory over Dallas since April 3, 1998. "They always seem to find a way to tie it up or come back to get a win," Marchant said. "Tonight it went in our favor." Anson Carter and Daniel Cleary also scored for the Oilers, who have won three straight. Darryl Sydor and Sergei Zubov scored for the Stars, who had been 8-0-2 in their last 10 meetings with the Oilers. "The curse is over," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. "After they tied it, we came back and had some big opportunities." Dallas has ousted Edmonton from the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. Since the franchise moved to Texas from Minnesota in 1993, the Stars are 24-4-3 in the regular season against the Oilers. But Marchant made good on his opportunity in the overtime against Ed Belfour. "Todd made a heck of a move on the goal," MacTavish said. "He went far enough to the left that Belfour had a heck of a distance to cover to get back to the post." Belfour has led Dallas' dominance over Edmonton, posting an 11-1-2 record against the Oilers since joining the Stars in 1997. "We've got to start somewhere," Edmonton winger Ryan Smyth said about finally beating Belfour and Dallas. "It's a great feeling," added Oilers captain Doug Weight. Zubov tied it 2-2 at 11:02 of the third with a wrist shot past Oilers goalie Tommy Salo after taking Mike Modano's cross-ice pass. "We knew it's always a one-goal type game against them," Dallas' Kirk Muller said. "We got that big goal and wanted to keep pushing. I thought we were going pretty good, but we just couldn't get that last goal." Cleary gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 14:03 of the second. Sergei Zholtok's shot hit a player's leg and bounced off the end boards to Cleary, who banked a shot off the far post past Belfour. Both goalies were busy in the second period, during which Dallas outshot Edmonton 16-15. Salo, who has allowed just three goals in his last three games, came out of the crease to stop Sami Helenius alone in front and snared Jamie Langenbrunner's slap shot from the circle. Belfour blocked Marchant's drive at the end of a 2-on-1, and a few seconds later stopped Ethan Moreau's wraparound attempt. Each team finished with 34 shots on goal. EDMONTON OILERS 3, Dallas Stars 2 (OT) 1ST 2ND 3RD OT FINAL --- --- --- --- ----- Dallas 1 0 1 0 2 Edmonton 1 1 0 1 3 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Edmonton, Carter 13 (Smyth, M.Comrie), 2:39. 2, Dallas, Sydor 8 (Marshall, Morrow), 16:18 (pp). PENALTIES: Sydor, Dal (tripping), 5:59; Niinimaa, Edm (charging), 14:49. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 3, Edmonton, Cleary 9 (Zholtok, Weight), 14:03. PENALTIES: Matvichuk, Dal (high-sticking), 14:52; Moreau, Edm (slashing), 19:34. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 4, Dallas, Zubov 8 (Modano, Hull), 11:02. PENALTIES: Laraque, Edm (roughing), 4:44. OVERTIME - SCORING: 5, Edmonton, Marchant 9, :31. PENALTIES: None. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- Dallas 7 16 11 0 34 Edmonton 7 15 11 1 34 POWER PLAY: Dallas 1 of 3; Edmonton 0 of 2. GOALIES: Dallas, Belfour 26-17-5 (34 shots-31 saves). Edmonton, Salo 26-21-9 (34-32). Referees: Mick McGeough, Scott Zelkin. Linesmen: Derek Amell, Scott Driscoll. A: 17,100 (17,100).