But the Stars seem to have a winning formula down to a science: Score the first goal and the last goal and skate off with another white-knuckle victory. Wednesday night, they opened defense of their Stanley Cup title with a 2-1 victory over the Oilers before a Reunion Arena crowd of 17,001 that had seen this act before.

This is the fourth consecutive year the Stars and Oilers have met in the early rounds of the playoffs. Of their last 15 postseason games, 12 have been decided by one goal. Dallas won nine of those games, including the past five. A year ago the Stars swept Edmonton, needing 57:34 of overtime before winning the clincher, 3-2.

"That's been our model that last three or four years," defenseman Darryl Sydor said. The difference, however, is that the Stars had this game mothballed much of the season, when protecting a third-period lead was anything but routine.

"As I said before the playoffs began, we have to be prepared to win the 1-0 and 2-1 games," captain Derian Hatcher said. "It's important for us to have the confidence to win these close games."

Any winning recipe in the playoffs includes three other elements: great defense, consistent goaltending and goals from unexpected sources. Dallas used all three in this victory, getting goals from checkers Mike Keane and Roman Lyashenko, and a strong defense that limited Edmonton to just 14 shots on goal. And the only puck that eluded Stars goalie Ed Belfour was a knuckler off the stick of German Titov after a Sydor giveaway on a clearing attempt.

That tied the game 1-1 seven minutes into the second period. But that's as close as the Oilers usually get to beating Dallas. Now they have to be wondering if they can ever beat this team. Surely goaltender Tommy Salo must. He has yet to beat the Stars in 13 decisions (0-12-1) against them in his career.

Wednesday he was sensational at times, and seldom better than on the winning goal, when he made a sprawling, Dominik Hasek-like save on Scott Thornton. The rebound was heading toward the goal line when defenseman Igor Ulanov swept the puck out with a backhanded swipe -- directly onto the stick of Lyashenko, who deposited the puck into a yawning net for the game-winner in his first-ever Stanley Cup playoff game.

"He's a heck of a competitor," Hitchcock said of Lyashenko. "He plays his best in big games. We saw that in various world tournaments he played in. That's why we had him in there tonight."

But the native of Murmansk, Russia, the port city inside the Arctic Circle that also gave the NHL former Detroit defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov, wasn't sure if that was the biggest goal of his career.

"I scored on a penalty shot in Russian playoffs," Lyashenko said in broken English. "This goal, I just put my stick on the ice and get the puck. I shoot it in the net."

No big deal. What was a big deal was that Lyashenko, primarily used as a defensive center this season, was pressed into duty on the wing when two-time Selke Trophy winner Jere Lehtinen was unable to play after aggravating an ankle injury in Sunday's season finale. Lehtinen missed 65 games of the regular season after undergoing surgery to repair the left ankle.

The Stars also were missing defenseman Sergei Zubov, and that's what made Wednesday's defensive effort so impressive. Lehtinen is the Stars' best defensive forward. Zubov can control a game at either end, logging more minutes in the regular season than anybody in the NHL behind Norris Trophy frontrunners Chris Pronger of St. Louis and Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit.

Scott Thornton congratulates teammate Roman Lyashenko (front) after he scored the winning goal.(AP)

In Zubov's absence, the tandem of Hatcher and Richard Matvichuk worked overtime. Hatcher played a game-high 33 minutes, 30 seconds. Matvichuk played 31:07. They were on the ice every minute against the Oilers' top line centered by Doug Weight, limiting the unit to a paltry three shots on goal combined.

"This was one of the best games we've played against Edmonton in two years," Hitchcock said of a physically relentless game in which the Stars outhit the Oilers 68-52. "We created a lot of scoring changes, we moved the puck well and we defended our zone very well."

Clearly, the Stars looked like a team happy to put the regular season behind it and eager to get on with defending their title.

"I think the fans have been waiting for this for six months, and I know the players have," Dallas center Mike Modano said.

"We showed the last two or three weeks of the season that we couldn't wait to get the playoffs started," teammate Guy Carbonneau said, referring to a lukewarm finish to the season. "A lot of people were wondering lately what kind of team we were going to show in the playoffs, but everybody in this room knew."

The Stars believe they know the formula for success in the post-season. And they're playing it to death. Just ask the Edmonton Oilers.