EDMONTON — Nikolai Khabibulin avoided wearing the goat horns for a second consecutive game on Tuesday night, stopping all three shots in the shootout as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars 5-4.
One game after a goaltending gaffe that led to a loss in Edmonton’s home opener, Khabibulin became just the 24th goaltender in NHL history to hit the 300 career win mark.
Khabibulin had a far better night Tuesday than last Saturday, when he lost the handle on the puck with less than a minute, a miscue that led to a Calgary goal and 4-3 loss to the rival Flames.
“That was a hard way to lose that first game so it was good to see the team rewarded tonight,” said the 36-year-old free agent acquisition. “It’s nice to hit that milestone but right now I am just happy that we won the game. I’ll try to build on it and make sure I don’t stop at 300, I guess.”
Ales Hemsky scored the lone goal in the shootout session and Mike Comrie, Sam Gagner, Dustin Penner and Denis Grebeshkov scored in regulation for the Oilers (1-1-0).
Oilers head coach Pat Quinn was glad to see his team hit the win column, even if he thought they had looked better in their debut than they did against the Stars.