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BOX SCORE
DALLAS (AP) -- With six regulars out with injuries, the Dallas
Stars turned to two key contributors from last season's Stanley Cup
run to end a three-game winless streak.
|  | | Dallas' Blake Sloan, left, checks Edmonton's Janne Niinimaa into the boards. |
Jamie Langenbrunner and Mike Modano scored first-period goals as
the Stars continued their dominance of the Edmonton Oilers with a
2-1 victory Wednesday night.
The Stars were without injured veterans Richard Matvichuk, Jere
Lehtinen, Grant Marshall, Brian Skrudland and Shawn Chambers.
Center Joe Nieuwendyk joined the inactives because of back spasms that
flared just before the game.
Until some of those players with their names on the Stanley Cup
return to the lineup, the Stars will have to play the no-frills,
patient style they used against the Oilers.
"That was a sound, disciplined effort," Stars coach Ken
Hitchcock said. "That's the type of game we're going to have to
play for a while."
The Stars were 0-2-1 over their previous three games, their
longest winless string since going 0-2-2 from March 14-19 of last
season.
Dallas hadn't won since Oct. 9, scoring four goals over the
three-game winless span. The Stars, who haven't scored more than
three goals in a game since a 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh
Penguins on opening night, continued to struggle offensively. They
went scoreless in three power-play chances.
Part of the early slump by the Stars has been attributed to a
Stanley Cup hangover, another part because of the injuries to key
players and the infusion of new players into the lineup.
"This is what we're going to need to do until the injured guys
get back," Modano said. "Each night you need to prove yourself.
You get graded on a daily basis. We have to get an early lead and
then do everything we can to hold onto it."
Ed Belfour made 23 saves for the Stars, 20-3-2 against the
Oilers since moving from Minnesota to Dallas for the 1993-94
season.
"They get an early lead and it looked like the old Dallas curse
for a while," said Oilers coach Kevin Lowe. "When they get the
lead, they go into their (protect) mode. We had some unforced
turnovers in the first period, that really bothered me."
The Stars got off to their best start in the last two weeks,
outshooting Edmonton in the first period 11-7.
Modano notched his sixth from the slot at 11:10, then
Langenbrunner converted his second at 17:04 from the bottom of the
left circle one second after a Stars power play had elapsed.
Edmonton got the only goal of the second period on Georges
Laraque's first of the season at 1:54, a 30-foot blast from between
the circles.
The Oilers made a late push, outshooting the Stars 10-5 in the final
period. But they got few good scoring chances against Dallas' tight defense and continued their losing ways in Dallas. Edmonton is 1-11-1 at Reunion Arena since the Stars moved to Dallas.
"There's just something about this building and we've got to
get over it," said Oilers center Doug Weight. "They're
disciplined and well-coached, and we didn't have a lot of luck around the net. So it was the same old story here."
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Edmonton Clubhouse
Dallas Clubhouse
RECAPS
Nashville 4
Buffalo 3
Detroit 6
San Jose 3
Florida 5
Vancouver 2
Colorado 2
Montreal 1
Philadelphia 5
NY Rangers 0
Carolina 3
Toronto 3
Dallas 2
Edmonton 1
Boston 2
Los Angeles 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Mike Madano scores his sixth goal of the season.
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