(Photo Credit: Perry Nelson / USA TODAY Sports)
The Dallas Stars closed out the first back-to-back series of the season with a big 4-3 win against the offensive powerhouse Edmonton Oilers, in Alberta, Canada, tonight. Goalie Scott Wedgewood tied career highs in shots faced (49) and saves (46), and forward Roope Hintz recorded his third straight multi-point game.
The first period began with an offensive standoff, with Dallas only registering two shots on goal and Edmonton recording one through the first seven minutes of the game. The pace of the game began to shift with about 12 minutes left in the period though, when Edmonton launched a flurry of shots toward Wedgewood, all of which he denied, capped off with a massive leg save.
Following the save, the Stars cleared the puck from behind the net toward a duo of Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin racing through neutral ice. The two entered the zone together, facing down only Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse. Duchene kept the puck and sped toward Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, took a shot and slid the puck through Skinner’s legs, giving the Stars the first goal of the game.
The lead would be short-lived though, with Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins capitalizing on a defensive play in Dallas’ offensive zone. Dallas’ Joe Pavelski lost the puck to the legs of a sprawled Nugent-Hopkins who recovered the bouncing puck from his feet and made a quick pass to forward Evander Kane. Kane launched the puck under the left leg of Wedgewood and tied the game at one with three minutes left in the first period.
Just three and a half minutes into the second period, Pavelski, Roope Hintz and Sam Steele rushed into Edmonton’s zone while the Oilers executed a line change, leaving the three forwards alone with Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse, who couldn’t stop the trio’s advance. Hintz passed the puck across the ice to a waiting Pavelski who shot it toward a gaping Edmonton net, giving the Stars a 2-1 lead.
The Stars had to work hard to defend the lead throughout the period though, finding penalty trouble only three minutes after Pavelski’s goal. Craig Smith was called for tripping against Evander Kane, but the Stars would stave off Edmonton’s two-minute man advantage and retain the lead. With seven minutes left in the period, Mason Marchment was called for slashing against Derek Ryan, sending the Stars to the penalty kill again, but again, the Oilers would be denied a tying goal.
But penalties weren’t tilted toward Dallas alone, and with just over four minutes left in the period, Kane headed to the penalty box for hooking Dallas’ Matt Duchene. The Stars power play, second worst in the league at 0-for-12, hasn’t been an exciting aspect of Dallas’ game, but the dry spell came to an end just 20 seconds into the man advantage. Stars Captain Jamie Benn trickled the puck to Hintz who was waiting in front of the net and squeezed it past Skinner, putting the Stars two goals up on the Oilers.
The Stars would face their final penalty kill in the period with 2:06 left when a defensive mix-up on the bench led to a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty. Wedgewood faced an offensive onslaught during the kill, with pucks clanging off each post and bouncing dangerously in front of him, but still denied the Oilers a chance to tighten the score.
Two and a half minutes into the final period, the Avengers line of Pavelski, Hintz and Jason Robertson crossed into neutral ice with Robertson controlling the puck. Just inside the zone, Robertson passed the puck to Pavelski who settled it, and crossed it back across the ice to a waiting Hintz. Hintz instantly shot the puck and it flew past Skinner, giving the Stars a three-goal lead on the Oilers.
The Stars went on the power play with 13:29 left in the final period, but Dallas wouldn’t enjoy the man advantage for the full two minutes. With only 26 seconds remaining in the power play, Marchment found himself in penalty trouble yet again, and was sent to the penalty box for hooking Edmonton’s Vincent Desharnais.
The Stars would kill the Marchment penalty, but 30 seconds later, Edmonton crashed Dallas’ net with full force, sending Wedgewood to the ice and sprawling. Sam Gagner found the puck in the fray and shoved it under the outstretched stick arm of Wedgewood, bringing the Oilers within two goals of the Stars.
Three minutes later, after winning a faceoff at center ice, Evander Kane pushed past Stars defenseman Thomas Harley in the Stars zone, while Sam Gagner rushed to the front of the Stars net with only defenseman Jani Hankanpää in the vicinity. Kane passed the puck to Gagne, who tapped the puck toward the Dallas goal and neither Hakanpää nor Wedgewood could stop the slow roll of the puck into the net.
With 1:52 left on the clock, Edmonton pulled Skinner in an attempt to claim the tying goal and force overtime, but Wedgewood remained a wall.
The Stars will continue to push through Canada on Saturday, facing the 6-2-1 Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena in British Colombia.
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