Photo Credit : Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Stars concluded their three-games-in-four-nights road trip with a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit tonight, closing out the trip at 2-1-1. It was the seventh consecutive victory for the Stars over the Red Wings and the third season in a row Dallas has swept Detroit.
The victory has Dallas within two points of the division-leading Winnipeg Jets and only one point behind the Colorado Avalanche.
Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn opened up scoring for the night with a sneaky power play goal just three and a half minutes into the first period. Detroit was assessed a two-minute minor for having too many men on the ice with 16:50 on the clock, with David Perron serving the time in the box.
Benn won the faceoff for the Stars and dropped the puck to defenseman Thomas Harley on the blue line. Harley sent the puck to Hintz who had advanced into the faceoff circle to Detroit goalie Alex Lyon’s left, but Hintz sent it back. Harley sent it to left winger Jason Robertson on the opposite side of the Detroit zone instead, and Robertson skating into the zone, took a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. The puck hit Lyon, who couldn’t control the rebound, and careened off the netminder’s left pad. Benn had posted up immediately beside the goal post and grabbed the puck off the rebound, slamming it over the left leg of Lyon and into the net.
The Stars headed to the power play again when Detroit’s Jeff Petry was sent to the penalty box for holding Dallas’ Joe Pavelski, but the Red Wings killed the power play, holding the Stars to a one-goal lead.
With seven and a half minutes remaining in the period, the Red Wings got their first chance at a power play when Stars center Wyatt Johnston was sent to the box for hooking Detroit’s Jake Walman, and Dallas’ bad luck on the penalty kill began.
Detroit dominated in the Stars zone on the power play, spreading Dallas’ penalty killers across the zone and sending flurries of shots toward Stars goalie Jake Oettinger. With one second left on the man advantage, Detroit’s David Perron took a wrist shot from the center of the faceoff circle to Oettinger’s right that soared past the Dallas netminder and into the net, tying the game.
The Stars found themselves in penalty trouble again less than a minute later when Pavelski was called for high-sticking Petry.
Detroit didn’t have as dominant a showing in the Dallas zone on the second power play, with Dallas even getting a couple promising shorthanded looks on the Detroit net. But with two seconds left on the man advantage, Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat took a shot from the nearly the same spot as Perron that sailed almost exactly along the same line as Perron’s, past Oettinger and into the net, putting the Red Wings up 2-1.
Dallas clearly came out of the locker room after the first intermission with renewed determination, though, and just 22 seconds into the second period, re-tied the game.
Left winger Mason Marchment took control of the puck along the boards in the Dallas zone, skating it into the neutral zone before passing it ahead to center Tyler Seguin who took it across the Red Wings blue line. Seguin tipped it just behind him to center Matt Duchene who quickly passed to Marchment as the winger advanced on the Detroit net. Marchment slapped the puck ahead and it ricocheted around the gear of Lyon before trickling behind him and across the goal line.
The Stars retook the lead just four and a half minutes later when center Roope Hintz scored his first goal of the night.
Johnston attempted to send the puck around the back of the Red Wings goal, but the puck bounced off the boards and toward the net. Hintz recovered the puck off the net but lost it briefly to Detroit center Klim Kostin in front of the net. Hintz swiped the puck off the blade of Kostin while losing his balance and sent it sliding through Lyon’s legs as he fell to the ice.
With just over eight minutes left in the second period, the Stars took their first two-goal lead of the night.
Dallas took aggressive control of the puck in the Red Wings zone, peppering Lyon with shots and putting offensive pressure on Detroit for nearly a minute. Hintz and Robertson traded the puck between the left faceoff circle and the boards before Hintz dropped behind the goal line with the puck. Hintz passed it to Johnston in the middle of the faceoff circle, and Johnston took a shot on Lyon that the goalie couldn’t control. Defenseman Esa Lindell was on the opposite side of the zone and recovered the rebound in the middle of the right faceoff circle before launching it back toward the net and past Lyon.
Three and a half minutes later, the Stars capped off scoring in the second period with yet another goal by Hintz. Johnston intercepted a pass in the Red Wings zone, skating the puck into the center of the zone before passing it to Hintz at the top of the right faceoff circle. Hintz skated the puck to the middle of the faceoff circle and launched a wrist shot toward the net that sailed past the left shoulder and glove of Lyon, giving the Stars a 5-2 lead to close out the second period.
With the start of the third period, Detroit made a change in net, sending in James Reimer for Lyon, and capitalized on what clearly was a too-early shift into cruise control for the Stars.
Five minutes into the final frame, it appeared the Red Wings were beginning to chip away at Dallas’ three-goal lead. The Stars turned over the puck in the neutral zone and Detroit center Michael Rasmussen recovered it along the boards before passing it ahead to right winger Christian Fischer. Fischer took the puck into the Stars zone and sent a shot toward the net from the top of the rght faceoff circle over the left shoulder and glove of Oettinger. But within 30 seconds, the play was under review for being offside, and ultimately, the call was overturned, retaining the Stars lead.
The overturned call didn’t affect the Red Wings for long though, and with nine minutes remaining on the clock, Dallas’ Ty Dellandrea headed to the penalty box for holding the stick of Justin Holl, sending Detroit on the power play yet again.
The Red Wings held the Stars in their zone for the first quarter of the power play, taking shots on Oettinger and screening the lanes in front of the Dallas goalie, and just 34 seconds into the man advantage, scored their third power play goal of the night. Red Wings Perron, Shayne Gostisbehere and Dylan Larkin were relentless on offense, and Lucas Raymond prevented Stars center Radek Faksa from clearing the puck from the zone. Raymond took a shot on net that bounced back off the bodies in front of Oettinger and back out into the zone where it was grabbed by Larkin. Larkin took a shot from the middle of the zone and sent the puck into the net behind the stick of Oettinger.
With 3:30 remaining in the game, Reimer headed to the bench and the Red Wings sent a sixth forward into the Dallas zone to try and tighten the score.
And 16 seconds later, Detroit did just that.
Dallas iced the puck, sending Dellandrea and Larkin to the faceoff circle to Oettinger’s right. Larkin won the faceoff and dropped the puck to DeBrincat who skated around Dallas defenseman Joel Hanley and directly toward Oettinger. DeBrincat took a shot on the netminder that bounced off his pads and onto the stick of Detroit left winger J.T. Compher. Compher got down on one knee and elevated the puck up and over the glove of Oettinger, cutting the Stars lead to 5-4.
Reimer returned to the net after the goal and the faceoff at center ice but returned to the bench again with 2:20 left on the clock. The Red Wings were called offside with 1:15 left in the game, sending Reimer back into the net again, but he returned to the bench 20 seconds later.
With 38 seconds left in the game, Hanley headed to the penalty box for a delay of game penalty, prompting a 6-on-4 power play for the Red Wings.
It was the only power play Detroit wouldn’t score on tonight, and the Stars held on to the victory.
The Stars return home on Thursday night to take on the Anaheim Ducks for the second of three matchups this season.
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