Woodcroft: 'Inspired' play helped Oilers end skid
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The Edmonton Oilers snapped a three-game winless skid on Wednesday with their 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars.
The Oilers outshot the Stars 34-27 and erased two one-goal leads for the Stars in the first and second periods before pulling away with three-goal performance in the third.
""Different teams present different challenges," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "The Dallas Stars are a well-coached, well-oiled machine right now. They're leading their division for a reason. This was an important game for us. This is not an easy building to take two points out of.
"The way we played tonight was inspired."
Edmonton has a 5-4-2 record this month and continue to fight for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference, having jumped the Calgary Flames for the final playoff spot with Wednesday's win.
"I think we just played tight, we didn't give them much," Oilers forward Zach Hyman said of his team's strong final period. "I think we just stuck with the game plan and had full contributions.
"I think we have a really good team, and we're better than our record shows."
Set to face the Vancouver Canucks on Friday before their holiday break, the Oilers currently have an 18-14-2 record this season. The team finished second in the Pacific Division last season, posting a 49-27-6 record after failing to secure at least a point in just nine of their 38 games after Woodcroft took over from Dave Tippett.