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EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- The Dallas Stars knocked the Edmonton Oilers out of the playoffs again.

	Modano

When Mike Modano put the finishing touches on a 3-2 victory Saturday night over the Oilers in Game 6, the Stars advanced to the Western Conference semifinals. They also eliminated Edmonton from the postseason for the fifth time in six seasons.

"We were holding on for dear life," Modano said.

What hurt so much this year for the eighth-seeded Oilers is that they believed in their hearts they could beat the top-seeded Stars.

The only time the Oilers have beaten the Stars in the previous six times they have met in the playoffs was 1997.

Top-seeded Dallas will play the No. 7 Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the Western Conference semifinals. Anaheim stunned Detroit by sweeping the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings in that first-round series.

The Stars scored first Saturday, as they did in five previous games, and got a timely goal. Modano scored the game-winner with 6:52 left.

Modano said the last five minutes were tense, but just like they have in the past, the Stars persevered.

"It is a fine line," he said. "It's right to the bitter end every time we play them. It could teeter-totter one way or the other. It could go against us real quick as much as it has gone for us.

"There's no die in the vocabulary of the team. They have a lot of heart and will."

Stars forward Kirk Muller said it was as difficult as expected.

"We said at the start of the series it was going to be tough. They had a good, young team," he said. "We got timely goals. We scored some early goals that really gave us the momentum. We knew coming in here how hard it would be and we were prepared for it."

Despite being there through all the years of failure, Oilers veteran Ryan Smyth said the Oilers really believed they could win this time. Edmonton led the series 2-1 before dropping three straight.

"We had our chances at the beginning," he said. "It is frustrating when they beat us again. One of these years we're going to learn and we're going to beat them."

Defenseman Steve Staios was very disappointed.

"When you build the belief system in the locker room that you can win a series and you don't get it done, it feels empty. It is tough to swallow," he said. "The most frustrating thing was that it was these guys again. They seem to have our number in the playoffs."

Todd Marchant, who scored the game-winner the only year the Oilers knocked the Stars out, said the team believed they could do it again.

"Everybody had high expectations coming into this series," he said. Georges Laraque said the Oilers were determined to press Dallas to a seventh game.

"We really thought we would get that third goal, but they got it before we did," he said. "They have a lot of experience those guys. They don't get nervous. Let's not kid ourselves. We were playing the best team in the league."

Modano's goal, his fourth of the series, sent the Stars into the second round.

The Stars looked like they would walk away with the game early, but the Oilers came back in the second period to tie it 2-2.

Dallas opened the scoring as they did in five of the six games.

Just 43 seconds in, Scott Young notched his fourth of the playoffs when his shot from behind the net banked in off goalie Tommy Salo. Modano and Sergei Zubov assisted.

Defenseman Philippe Boucher made it 2-0 midway through the first period when he ripped a shot from the top of the circle off the post and into the net. The puck hit the center bar in the net and bounced out.

Salo stopped Brenden Morrow on a breakaway in the first period.

The Oilers outshot Dallas 10-9 in the first period, but theStars dominated play.

Edmonton started the second period with a little more jump and were rewarded when Smyth went into the crease after Laraque's rebound and whacked the puck past a sprawling Marty Turco. Smyth's goal at 2:22 was his second of the playoffs.

The Oilers tied it on a pretty passing play after rookie Jason Chimera, subbing for injured forward Radek Dvorak, raced down the wing and passed to a charging Mike York. York pirouetted and passed the puck to Shawn Horcoff, who rifled it past Turco at 8:34 of the second period. It was Horcoff's third goal of the series.

The Oilers outshot the Stars 32-24. Game notes
The Stars were without injured forwards Bill Guerin, Pierre Turgeon and Jason Arnott. ... Former Oilers G Grant Fuhr watched the game from the stands. ... The Oilers inserted rookie D Marc-Andre Bergeron into the lineup to bolster a power play that was only 1-for-20 after the first five games. Scott Ferguson was the odd D out. ... Going into Saturday, the Stars' top line of Modano, Morrow and Young outscored the Oilers line of Smyth, Todd Marchant and Ales Hemsky 16-3. ... Dvorak underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a broken right hand. He also dislocated a finger when he missed a check on Jere Lehtinen and fell awkwardly into the boards.