In an old swan song for the Oilers, the Dallas Stars eliminate Edmonton from the playoffs once again. Edmonton stretched the series out to 6 games but could not force a game 7 tonight in Skyreach within a hard-fought 3-2 loss.

Lineup
Smyth	Marchant	Hemsky	Smith	Staios
Chimera	Horcoff	York	Cross	Brewer
Moreau	Reasoner	Pisani	Bergeron	Ferguson
Isbister	Comrie	Laraque	Salo
			Markkanen
Scratched: Dvorak - hand.... Swanson, Cleary, Ferguson - Healthy...

Postgame

The sellout crowd in Skyreach tonight was buzzing in anticipation of an Oilers win but while their hometown team gave Skyreach a glimmer of getting out with a win, the end result saw a 3-2 loss to the Oilers.

Early goals once again forced Edmonton to have to make a dramatic comeback in the game. Scott Young silenced a disbelieved Skyreach crowd just 43 seconds into the game. A lucky bounce from behind the net saw the puck go off Salo and into the net. If Dallas could be counted on anything in this series, it was scoring the first one, and scoring it early.

Momentum stayed on Dallas' side tonight with Phillipe Boucher making it 2-0 just past the halfway mark of the first period. His shot rang off the crossbar and post with a real howitzer.

Going into the first intermission, the Oilers saw them down 2-0 in what seemed like a mountain of a deficit to overcome.

But overcome it they did.

Ryan Smyth got the Oilers on the board just past the second minute mark of the second period. The goal saw Georges Laraque with the first assist and rookie defender Marc-Andre Bergeron notched his first NHL point in his playoff debut.

Shawn Horcoff notched a team-leading third goal prior to the half way mark of the second with a great passing play with his linemates, Mike York and Jason Chimera. The game was tied with over 30 minutes of playing time to go. The Oilers basically hit the reset button on their game with everything to lose and everything to gain.

Despite their fair share of opportunities, the Oilers were held off the scoreboard for the rest of the second period.

The third period continued to see the Oilers with scoring opportunities through the first half of the period. Unfortunately for the hometeam, Turco stood strong in the net when called upon.

Aptly named the Oiler killer in the first round, Mike Modano sealed the deal for Dallas at the thirteen minute mark of the third period. He lead the first round matchup with four goals and six assists. Sergei Zubov would also end the series with the same totals: four goals and six assists.

The Oilers continued to fight and the crowd broke out of their shell-shocked silence with about three minutes to go. Unfortunately tonight, the six guys on the ice, or the "7th man" - Skyreach crowd - could not muster enough to get the win. Turco stood strong on a couple great chances and stopped the Oilers from tying the game up again.

Disappointment for all 22 Oilers on the ice and another 16,839 was evident as the final buzzer went on the game and the Oilers' 2003 playoff run. Same old story, same old result. If there was a positive to take out of the series, it's simply that the Oilers made playoffs this year after missing in 2002. It can also be said that in all the losses to Dallas from 1998 to 2001, the Oilers extended the series to a 6th game.

Three Stars

Mike Modano - Scored the game winner and added an assist as he steps up with his 10th point of the series.

Shawn Horcoff - An unlikely hero supplanted Mike Comrie as the second line center in the first round with a team-leading three goals.

Marty Turco - Beyond some wreckless and questionable behavior outside his crease, including a 10-point dive that will forever be remembered, he made 30 saves and shut the door on the Oilers in the third.

Oil Gauge

Eric Brewer lead the d-corps for Edmonton with 26:49 tonight. Unfortunately much of those minutes were highly uneffective in what was the young defenseman's worst game of the series. In his first playoff game ever, Marc-Andre Bergeron clocked a solid 19:20 with defensive partner Alexei Semenov who saw just 10:30. Cross (21:23), Smith (19:02) and Staios (22:53) rounded out the time tonight. Georges Laraque (18:28), who saw more ice-time tonight than even Mike Comrie (15:48), notched three shots on Marty Turco. Shawn Horcoff, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Eric Brewer and Steve Staios also shot as much as they could with three shots for the group on Marty Turco. Ryan Smyth, suffered a shoulder injury got four shots on Turco, one resulting in the first Oilers' goal.

News & Notes

Todd Marchant and Ryan Smyth were revealed to be playing through the Dallas series with injuries. The extent of their injuries is unknown. The Oilers may well have seen Cory Cross and Todd Marchant with their last games in Oilers uniforms as both become unrestricted free agents this season. Mike Comrie, Shawn Horcoff, Brad Isbister, Georges Laraque, Jussi Markkanen, Ethan Moreau, Marty Reasoner, Jason Smith, Ryan Smyth and Brian Swanson lead the names of restricted free agents come July 1st when their contracts officially expire. Tommy Salo has a team option next season worth $3.9M that the Oilers will take on. Steve Staios also has a team option that the Oilers are expected to take.

Next Game

With heavy hearts, the Oilers and their fans now head into the offseason. All that's left now for Edmontonians is to cheer on the Trappers and Eskimos. Perhaps keeping an eye on the rest of the hockey playoffs will be an option for Edmonton fans that aren't too heavy of heart to continue watching hockey. Key dates left for the season include:

April 26-May 11 - IIHF world championships (Helsinki - Tampere - Turku, Finland. Amongst the list of hopeful nominees to join Team Canada include Ryan Smyth, Shawn Horcoff, Mike Comrie, Eric Brewer, Jason Smith and Cory Cross.

June 9 - Latest possible date for Stanley Cup final game.

June 21-22 - Entry draft (Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee).

July 1 - Eligible players transferred to free agent list.

July 15 - Deadline for eligible Group II players to elect salary arbitration. Deadline for eligible players to elect Group V free agency.

Aug. 1-15 - Arbitration hearings held.