The Dallas Stars found themselves in a defensive battle with the San Jose Sharks at American Airlines Center Friday night but found a way to grind out a win, padded by a few late goals.
In a game with just 41 total shots on goal, the Stars emerged with a 4-1 victory thanks to a dominant performance by the penalty kill and three goals in the third period to put them over the top.
The Stars extended their points streak to nine games with the win.
“I think we’ve been patient in all these games and finding different ways to win,” Stars forward Justin Hryckowian said. “I thought we kind of just played a mature game. We didn’t want to get into a back-and-forth game.”
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The Stars controlled the first period, outshooting the Sharks 9-3 and not allowing San Jose to take a shot on goal for the first 16 minutes of the game. In that time, Dallas built a 1-0 lead when Jason Robertson finished a shot Wyatt Johnston took on the power play that hit the crossbar.
The Stars kept up with their average of 1.04 power play goals per game this season, an NHL best. Robertson now has 15 goals in his last 13 games.
Midway through the second period, San Jose tied the game when Collin Graf scored from a crowd in front of the net.
The Sharks had numerous chances to take the lead, as Dallas’ penalty kill took the ice four times.
Mikko Rantanen committed three penalties in the contest, now bringing his total penalty minutes to 65 in 28 games this season. That’s the second-most he’s had in a season, trailing only the 82 minutes he had in 82 games in the 2022-23 season. Rantanen, who leads the league in penalty minutes, could break that career-high before the end of the month.
His three-minor game was his first since that 2022-23 season.
“I asked him, I wasn’t quite sure if he was chasing the point lead or the penalty-minute lead. He had a little laugh there,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We don’t want him in the box. I think he was a little frustrated at times. There was maybe a missed call in the first and then it just snowballed on him a little bit. He’s competitive, but he does great things, and we don’t want him in the box those six minutes a night.”
But all the penalties gave the Stars’ PK a chance to shine. Dallas killed all four penalties and has now killed 23 consecutive penalties over its last seven games.
“We’ve got some rhythm now with our killers,” Gulutzan said. “We’re on a little run.”
The Stars took control midway through the third period. Sam Steel snuck the game-winning goal past San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov with 9:04 remaining in regulation. Rantanen made it a two-goal game with under four minutes left in the game, finishing with as many points as he had penalties.
San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini scored a minute later, but Dallas challenged the goal for being offside and was correct.
Miro Heiskanen added an empty netter from the opposite end of the ice with 2:19 to play.
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger made 16 saves in the low-event win.
The Stars were still without Matt Duchene, Thomas Harley and Nils Lunkdvist, who are all day to day with injuries. They were also without Adam Erne, Lian Bichsel and Tyler Seguin, who are out long term.
The Stars will remain home and face the Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday evening.
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