Photo Credit: Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports
The Stars will finally return home with a full six points after going undefeated on a three-game road stretch culminting in a massive victory against the Minnesota Wild tonight. Dallas finished the night with five power play goals, tying a franchise record, and two shorthanded goals. It was the first time the two teams had met at regular season roster strength since the 2022-2023 post-season when Dallas knocked out the Wild in the first round of the playoffs.
Much like last night against the Jets, the Stars set the tone for tonight’s game quickly, and dominated the night in special teams play, both on the power play and the penalty kill.
57 seconds into the match, Wild right winger Brandon Duhaime was called for interference on Joe Pavelski. Just six seconds into the resulting power play, Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen took a shot on net from the middle of the blue line that bounced off Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Pavelski grabbed the rebound and tucked it behind Fleury, giving the Stars an early first lead of the game.
With 11:46 left in the period, Dallas’ Craig Smith was called for holding against Marco Rossi. The Stars shut down the Wild ‘s powerplay, and with just 26 seconds left on the kill, Dallas center Radek Faksa stole the puck from Wild center Vinni Lettieri in the Wild zone, took a shot on Fleury and found the back of the net to give the Stars a two-goal lead.
Two minutes later, Duhaime took a pass from Wild center Connor Dewar, who nabbed the puck from Dallas defenseman Nils Lundkvist in the corner. Dewar made his way to the front of the net and launched a backhanded shot at Oettinger that flung the puck into the net, cutting the Stars lead in half.
But the Stars would respond just 14 seconds later with a similar play by left wing Mason Marchment in the corner to center Matt Duchene in front of the net, regaining the two-goal lead for Dallas.
Six minutes into the period, Dewar and Smith took the game’s physicality up a notch and dropped gloves, earning them both a five-minute penalty for fighting.
Dallas would go on the penalty kill again with just under four minutes left in the period when Ryan Suter was called for high-sticking Minnesota’s Kiril Kaprizov, but the Wild would fail to convert with the man advantage.
Scoring wouldn’t be over in the period though, and with just 46 seconds left, Rossi took a pass from Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin in neutral ice and passed it ahead to Lettieri who was speeding into the Stars zone. Lettieri outskated Dallas defenseman Thomas Harley in the zone, took a shot from the center of the circle to Oettinger’s left and bounced it just under the crossbar, bringing the Wild within one goal of the Stars yet again to close out the period.
It was the first time this season the Stars have led after the first period.
The second period would be no less intense, with the Stars going on the power play just 45 seconds into the frame after Wild defenseman Jake Middleton hooked Dallas’ Roope Hintz. With 12 seconds left in the power play, Dallas center Tyler Seguin passed the puck from the top of the circle to Duchene, who had posted up immediately to Fleury’s left. Duchene found a waiting Wyatt Johnston in front of the net who launched the puck up and behind Fleury, giving the Stars yet another two-goal advantage.
Ten minutes later, the Stars went on the power play again when Dewar was called for holding Smith. With 42 seconds left on the man advantage, the Stars crashed the net and smothered Fleury with shots that the goalie couldn’t contain. Dallas’ Evgenii Dadonov recovered a rebounded puck off Fleury’s foot and tapped it into the net, pushing the score to 5-2.
Three minutes later, Dallas would yet again go on the power play after Wild left wing Marcus Johansson tripped Marchment, but the man advantage would be truncated with 38 seconds left on a roughing call against Dallas’ Jason Robertson. With just over a minute left in the Robertson penalty kill, Wild right wing Mats Zuccarello took a wrist shot from the top of the circle toward the net and over Oettinger’s left shoulder, bringing the Wild back within two.
With 1:46 left in the period, Harley took a massive hit from Duhaime into the boards that bounced Harley’s head off the boards and left him on the ice in visible pain. As he stood up under his own power, he was very evidently bleeding and was quickly taken down the tunnel to the Stars locker room. Duhaime received a five minute major and a game misconduct, putting the Stars on the power play for the remainder of the second period and the first few minutes of the third.
Just over a minute into the third, Robertson scored the Stars fourth power play of the night with a rebound off a Heiskanen shot from the blue line that bounced off the boards behind Fleury, putting the Stars ahead at 6-3.
But Robertson wouldn’t be finished with power play goals thanks to the Duhaime major and would give the Stars a four-point lead with only six seconds left on the man advantage. Robo took a shot from the blue line that cut through significant Wild traffic in front of Fleury and flung the puck into the net.
With 13:44 left in the period, Hintz picked up a pass in neutral ice and catapulted into the Wild zone on a breakaway. Fleury left his net and headed toward Hintz, laying on the ice in front of him and taking his feet out from under him, putting the Stars on the power play yet again. It would be only the third time in Dallas’ eight power play opportunities the Stars wouldn’t score.
At 15:30, the Stars wound up in the penalty box again with Faksa tripping Lettieri, but with 20 seconds to go on the penalty kill, Seguin was called for high-sticking Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek, forcing the Stars into a 5-on-3 penalty kill.
The 20 seconds of Faksa’s penalty ended uneventfully, but 46 seconds into the Seguin penalty kill, Stars captain Jamie Benn took control of the puck and cleared it from the Stars zone, skating it into neutral ice. To his right, Johnston was speeding into the Wild zone uninhibited, broke into the zone and headed straight for Fleury, launching the puck over his right shoulder and into the net, scoring the final goal of the game.
The Stars now sit quite comfortable atop the Central Division with a 10-3-1 record, putting them five points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche. The team’s power play percentage moved from 29th in the league to 17th with tonight’s five power play goals, and Wyatt Johnston has taken over the team’s leading goal-scorer spot with seven.
The Stars return to American Airlines Center on Tuesday to face the Arizona Coyotes for the first time this season.
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