The Dallas Stars extended their points streak to 10 games Sunday night, overcoming a sloppy overall performance to reach overtime and escape with the win.
The Stars won 3-2 in a shootout against the Pittsburgh Penguins at American Airlines Center. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored the game-tying goal with 1:49 remaining in regulation while the Stars had a 6-on-5 advantage to force overtime. Jake Oettinger made three saves in the shootout in which Mikko Rantanen scored the game-winner.
“Usually, this league evens everything out,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We’ve had a couple of games at home where I thought we should’ve won, and we lost in overtime. We’ll take it and try to get better.”
Related
Sports Roundup
The Stars secured two points despite being outplayed for most of the game.
Dallas had 23 giveaways, well above its season average of 15.6 per game. Ten were in the defensive zone, as the Stars struggled to clear the puck at times and gave the Penguins second chances.
At the other end, they logged just 22 shots on goal and didn’t put enough pressure on Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry until late. On the chances they did have — like a Grade-A chance by Rantanen in the second period after a giveaway by the Penguins in front of their own net or numerous odd-man rushes in overtime — the Stars couldn’t capitalize.
“It wasn’t our best game,” Gulutzan said. “I thought they were better than us tonight 5-on-5, especially in that second period. We didn’t generate a ton.”
Even with Matt Duchene and Nils Lundkvist returning to the lineup for the first time in two months, the Stars couldn’t get enough of a boost in their play for the first 58 minutes.
However, Heiskanen made one big play late in regulation, and Oettinger made the saves he needed to in overtime and the shootout to give the Stars the win, finishing with 27 saves in the outing.
Pittsburgh struck first at the end of an exciting first period where Alexander Petrovic hit a post and Jamie Benn crushed Matt Dumba with a hit in his first game back in Dallas since he was traded last summer. But the eventful first period ended with Pittsburgh’s Connor Dewar scoring on a one-timer from the slot with under two minutes remaining.
That lead didn’t last for long, as Roope Hintz fed Benn for a one-timer from a similar spot on the ice 1:27 into the second period to tie the score at 1. Since returning from lung surgery, Benn has scored four goals in 11 games. That’s more than he scored in his final 25 regular-season games and 18 playoff games combined last year.
Just over four minutes later, Pittsburgh regained the lead. Tommy Novak deflected a shot from the point by Kris Letang, to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
Pittsburgh controlled the second period, outshooting Dallas 11-4. It helped that the Penguins had a pair of power plays after hooking calls on Benn and Heiskanen.
But the Stars’ penalty kill, which has been perfect lately, kept up that success, killing both. The Stars have now killed 25 consecutive penalties across their last eight games. The Penguins have the best power play in the league, converting 34.4% of the time entering Sunday’s matchup, but they were without star forward Evgeni Malkin.
The Stars earned their only power play of the game with 7:34 left in regulation, down 2-1 with a chance to tie, but they did not convert. Dallas did have an extra man when it scored the game-tying goal after pulling Oettinger late in regulation.
Duchene and Lundkvist both saw significant ice time in their first games back from injury. Duchene skated for 15:55 and was quickly elevated from a fourth-line role to replace Sam Steel on Wyatt Johnston’s and Rantanen’s line. Duchene also participated in the shootout but did not score in his attempt.
“It’s great that we won the game,” Duchene said. “It’s nice to be part of it and not watching for a change.”
Lundkvist skated for 16:15 and recorded one shot and two hits.
The Stars now hit the road for a two-game trip with playoff implications. Dallas will face two Central Division rivals — Winnipeg on Tuesday and Minnesota on Thursday. The Wild currently occupy the third playoff slot in the Central, while Winnipeg is in the hunt for a wild card spot.
Twitter: @lassimak
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.