"As far as dress rehearsals go, the Edmonton Oilers' 3-2 pre-season victory over the Dallas Stars wasn't without flaws. Some more glaring than others. But for the first time this pre-season the Oilers sent out a team that will look a lot like the one that will file out when the regular season gets underway.

With a few exceptions -- Sean Avery (sick), Jere Lehtinen (groin), Sergei Zubov (hip) -- the Stars too sent out their A-team Sunday at the American Airlines Center.

"It's kind of been the motto for the pre-season, it's pretty hard at the end of the day to judge it. It looked like we were good five-on-five but we just didn't play five-on-five very much," coach Craig MacTavish said. "We just can't take the penalties."

Andrew Cogliano (even strength) and Sheldon Souray (power play) put first-period goals past Marty Turco before the Stars came back with markers from Brandon Crombeen and Stephane Robidas (power play).

Mathieu Garon, making his third start in net, saw 41 shots and was solid and on the job for eight penalty kills. The Oilers, meanwhile, generated just 12 shots through the first 40 minutes then just two more in the third -- one of which came off the stick of Jason Strudwick, who wired a Dustin Penner rebound into the back of the net at 5:47 of the third.

"Every shot we have seems to be a scoring chance. Even on the power play we move it around for two minutes then we've got one shot to show for it," said MacTavish. "Obviously we have to find a way to even the shots for and against."

"I'd rather see lots of shots like that," said Garon. "I know I'm not going to play for a week so I'd rather stay sharp."

The Oilers, still carrying 28 roster players when they left Dallas, will likely assign a player or two to their American Hockey League franchise in Springfield then relocate to Jasper, where they will continue preparing for their Oct. 12 season opener against the Colorado Avalanche."