Sam Gagner scored twice and the Edmonton Oilers edged closer to Colorado in the race for the final playoff spot in the NHL's Western Conference with a 7-5 victory over the Avalanche on Saturday. Dustin Penner, Fernando Pisani, Kyle Brodziak, Marty Reasoner and Marc Pouliot also scored for the Oilers. Tyler Arnason, Ruslan Salei, Wojtek Wolski, Milan Hejduk and John-Michael Liles responded for the Avalanche, who went winless on their three-game road trip and have lost four straight. It was the 11th win in the last 14 outings for the Oilers, three points behind Colorado for the eighth and final playoff position in the West. Kings 4, Stars 2: At Dallas, Michal Handzus tied it with 3:01 left and Lubomir Visnovsky scored the go-ahead goal 55 seconds later as Los Angeles rallied past fading Dallas. Handzus added another goal with 1:19 left to hand the Stars their season high-tying fourth straight loss. Brenden Morrow and Stu Barnes scored for Dallas. Predators 2, Blackhawks 1, SO: At Nashville, Tennessee, Rich Peverley and Alexander Radulov scored in the shootout, and Nashville stopped a six-game home losing streak. Jason Arnott scored for Nashville, and Dan Ellis stopped two of three attempts to help the Predators improve to 3-5 in shootouts. Andrew Ladd scored for Chicago. Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 1: At Columbus, Ohio, Pavel Datsyuk set up power-play goals by Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg and scored a short-handed tally to lead Detroit past Columbus. Johan Franzen also scored for Detroit, giving him 14 points in 10 games. Canadiens 3, Bruins 2, SO: At Montreal, Saku Koivu scored in the shootout and Montreal completed a season-series sweep of Boston. Carey Price stopped Zdeno Chara, Phil Kessel and Denis Wideman in the shootout after making 33 saves during the game. In other games it was: Penguins 7, Devils 1; Maple Leafs 5, Senators 4; Panthers 4, Lightning 2; Ducks 2, Coyotes 1; Flames 5, Wild 4. __
