NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS : North Stars, Continuing to Shine, Stun Oilers, 3-1

The Minnesota North Stars won for the first time at Edmonton in 11 1/2 years and continued their improbable playoff roll with a 3-1 victory Thursday night over the defending champion Oilers.

Dave Gagner snapped a second-period tie with the North Stars’ NHL-high 26th power-play goal of the playoffs.

Neal Broten and Gaetan Duchesne also scored for the North Stars, who have opened each of their three series with a road victory.

No place has been as unfriendly for the North Stars over the years as Edmonton’s Northlands Coliseum, where Minnesota had been 0-14-3 since their previous victory over Edmonton there on Oct. 24, 1980.

It was Minnesota’s first playoff victory over the Oilers, who swept the North Stars in the 1984 Campbell Conference finals. The series continues with Game 2 Saturday night at Edmonton before shifting to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Wednesday.

The league’s 16th-best regular-season team, Minnesota has beaten No. 1 Chicago and No. 2 St. Louis and is bidding to become the only Norris Division team since the current playoff setup was enacted in 1982 to reach the Stanley Cup finals.

Edmonton, the 11th-ranked club during the season, has won five Stanley Cups in the previous seven years and is 6-0 in Campbell championship series.

Goalie John Casey, who has started all 13 of Minnesota’s playoff games, had 27 saves and was at his best in the third period, stopping Craig Simpson, Anatoli Semenov and Joe Murphy from close range. Overall, his defense did a good job of keeping the Oilers from driving through the slot with the puck.

Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr, who wasn’t able to finish the Oilers’ sixth-game victory over the Kings because of a bruised arm, made 29 saves.