Dallas thanks its lucky Stars

The Edmonton Oilers used their luck early Friday night at home – and the Dallas Stars were quite thankful for that.

Ryan Smyth pinballed in a shot in the second period that had to be called lucky, but then a Smyth rebound attempt that appeared to be a goal in the final 5 seconds was whistled off by referee Mick McGeough as the Stars took a 3-2 victory that most of the crowd at Rexall Place felt was undeserved.

“The whistle blew, it wasn’t a goal,” said Stars goalie Marty Turco. “Those are the rules.”

Indeed, the Stars did win by the letter of the law, pushing their best start to 11-2-0. Edmonton fell for the second time at home and dropped to 7-6-0.

Ducks 6, Coyotes 2: At Anaheim, Calif., Andy McDonald scored on a penalty shot to cap Anaheim’s four-goal second period and the Ducks beat Phoenix to improve on the best start in franchise history.

Chris Kunitz Teemu Selanne and Chris Pronger scored power-play goals, and the Ducks (10-0-4) grabbed the NHL points lead with 24 – one more than Buffalo (11-0-1), the only other team without a regulation loss.

Anaheim is one game shy of the longest point streak from the start of a season in NHL history, set by the 1943-44 Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens, who won 11 and tied three.

Thrashers 4, Capitals 3: At Washington, Steve Rucchin’s go-ahead goal 27 seconds into the third period gave backup goalie Johan Hedberg and Atlanta the win.

The Southeast Division leaders ended their two-game losing streak, but not before trailing 2-0 as the second period neared the midway mark. The Thrashers then netted three goals in less than 31/2 minutes to take the lead.

Blue Jackets 5, Flames 4, SO: At Columbis, Ohio, Manny Malhotra scored in the 11th shootout round to give Columbus a victory over Calgary.

After Columbus goaltender Pascal Leclaire smothered Chuck Kobasew’s shot, Malhotra skated down the middle of the ice and wristed a hard shot between Jamie McLennan’s leg pads.

It was the second-longest shootout this season. The New York Rangers beat Philadelphia in the 13th round on Oct. 7.