Even a veteran like Jaromir Jagr can still get excited about scoring in overtime.
The 40-year-old forward scored 1:46 into the extra period, lifting the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory over the injury-riddled Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night for their first winning streak of the season.
Jagr beat goalie Devan Dubnyk with a high wrist shot for his third goal of the year.
“That feeling never gets old,” Jagr said. “When you score in overtime, everybody is talking about it. That was a big goal for us.”
Jamie Benn and Derek Roy scored in regulation for the Stars (5-5-1), who have won two in a row.
Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan was relieved his team came away with the win but thought the Stars shouldn’t have allowed the Oilers back into the game in the third period.
“I liked the win in overtime, but I didn’t like the response after our two goals,” he said. “We kept on turning the puck over and over and putting the game in jeopardy. Until we realize that we are a team that has to grind out games — and even if it gets dicey out there, we have to play a certain way — we’re not going to get traction. We have to learn to do a better job.”
Ales Hemsky and Justin Schultz scored for the Oilers, who were without three of their top four centers: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (day to day with a shoulder injury), Shawn Horcoff (broken knuckle) and Eric Belanger (broken toes).
Adding to their woes, center Anton Lander left the game in the first period with a foot injury.
Oilers coach Ralph Krueger lauded his team for working through adversity and said he hoped help would be on the way soon.
“We’re in the pack and in the games with an opportunity to win, we just need to get a healthy lineup together,” he said. “We’re hoping to have Nugent-Hopkins back for our next game on Saturday and Belanger back by Sunday. We want to get back deep into our lineup again and to the four lines we were rolling earlier in the season.
“We’ve had a strange string of events. But the positive on it is that Horcoff is the only long-term injury.”
The Oilers (4-3-3) are winless in their past four games — although they have earned points in three of them.
“Down the middle we’re hurting, for sure, but we found a way to battle through that adversity and earn another point,” forward Jordan Eberle said.
There were few good chances in the first period, and most of them belonged to the Stars while they were short-handed. Dallas had several odd-man rushes late in the first and almost converted on one of them when Cody Eakin had Dubnyk beat but hit the post.
Edmonton broke the scoreless tie 3 minutes into the second following a mad scramble in front of the Dallas net. Nail Yakupov hit the post behind Stars starter Kari Lehtonen before Hemsky banked the rebound in off a defender.
Sam Gagner had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games.
The sound of metal clanging rang out through Rexall Place with 7 minutes left as Loui Eriksson hit the post behind Dubnyk, leading immediately to a rush by Yakupov, who also hit the post on his shot.
A minute later the Stars tied the game as a shot by Benn appeared to deflect off Jeff Petry and into the Edmonton net. It was Benn’s third goal in six games since ending his contract holdout.
Dallas went up 2-1 with 1:16 left in the second period when Roy ripped a shot from the point during a power play that found the back of the net untouched. It was Roy’s first goal with the Stars.
Edmonton tied it 2-all 8 minutes into the third on a power play as Schultz let loose a slap shot from the point past Lehtonen. It was the third goal of the season for the Oilers rookie defenseman.
Jagr thinks it has taken some time for the Stars to find their footing, but they’re starting to come along.
“We had three new guys coming here, and Jamie wasn’t signed,” he said. “We didn’t really have much of a chance to play together and not even much practice. We have to learn during the games. It is going to get better and better. It is just taking some time.”
The Stars return home to play the Ducks on Friday. The Oilers start a two-game trip Saturday in Detroit.
Game notes
It was the first of three meetings between the teams this season. The Stars won all four meetings last season by a combined 14-4 margin, holding the Oilers to one goal in each game. … Dallas D Alex Goligoski was a surprise healthy scratch. Goligoski is the Stars’ highest-paid defenseman at $4.2 million and is second on the team’s payroll behind Benn. … With the three injured centers, Oklahoma City call-up Marc Arcobello made his NHL debut, playing on the Oilers’ top line between Taylor Hall and Eberle. … The latest injuries added to an already long list of hobbled players for Edmonton that includes Andy Sutton (knee), Ryan Jones (eye), Ben Eager (concussion), Mark Fistric (back) and Theo Peckham (hip). … Stars forward Ray Whitney is out with a broken foot. … The Stars went into the game having been short-handed a league-high 50 times this year.
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