Photo Credit : Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP
With a 2-0 victory over the Jets tonight, the Stars took over the second-place spot in the Central Division standings and solidified the team’s best-ever 10-game road start in franchise history. Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger claimed his first shutout of the season with 27 saves on 27 shots against, and the Stars continued to shine on the penalty kill, reinforcing why they’re currently leading the league in the metric on the road.
The first 20 minutes of play were largely uneventful save for the sole penalty of the period, a minor call five minutes into the game against Winnipeg right winger Nino Niederreiter for high-sticking Stars center Joe Pavelski. Dallas had a couple of strong chances to score and good looks at Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck on the man advantage, but ultimately couldn’t convert. Hellebuyck is currently tied for second most wins in the league.
The Stars pushed the pace of the period significantly, though, outshooting the Jets 8-5. The Jets also blocked eight Stars shots to Dallas’ two blocked Winnipeg shots, and the number of shot attempts in the period were very strongly in Dallas’ favor at 24-9.
The Stars repeatedly took advantage of Winnipeg errors on the blue lines and pushed numerous full-strength and odd man rushes into the Jets zone, but Hellebuyck stook strong in net and held the Stars at bay.
The second period started much as the first, but in reverse, with the Jets overtaking the game offensively and outshooting the Stars 16-14 by the end of the period. But the Jets added another eight blocked shots to the night’s tally while the Stars only added two, again highlighting the offensive onslaught Dallas was inflicting on Winnipeg.
Dallas took its first turn in the penalty box halfway through the period when defenseman Nils Lundkvist was called for holding Jets center Morgan Barron. It would take less than a minute for the Stars to find themselves in real penalty trouble, though, when center Radek Faksa was called for hooking Winnipeg center Mark Scheifele, sending the Stars to a 5-on-3 penalty kill. The leading on-the-road penalty kill in the league was on full display though, and the Stars killed off both penalties.
With just over seven minutes remaining in the period, Pavelski reclaimed his spot as the Stars leading goal-scorer and notched his tenth goal of the season. Dallas left wing Jason Robertson took the puck across the Jets blue line with Pavelski advancing into the middle of the zone behind him and settling himself directly in front of Hellebuyck.
Robertson took a shot from the middle of the zone that was blocked by Jets defenseman Neal Pionk. Stars center Roope Hintz recovered the puck off the block and began skating it around the back of the Jets net, but as he skated just beyond the goal line, sent the puck to Pavelski who was still posted up in front of the net. Pavelski took the pass and tipped the puck just off the post and past the left skate of Hellebuyck.
Hellebuyck instantly gestured to the officials, as if to say his helmet was impacted on the play and prompted Jets head coach Rick Bowness to challenge the goal. After reviewing the goal, it was decided there was no goalie interference on the play, confirming the Stars had the first goal of the game.
The Stars went on the delay-of-game power play after the failed challenge, but the Jets held the Stars off, and closed out the second period down just one goal.
Three minutes into the third period, the Stars were in penalty trouble again when defenseman Ryan Suter was called for interference on Scheifele. With 44 seconds left in the Suter penalty, Faksa took a secondary penalty again, this time for tripping Niederreiter, putting the Stars on the 5-on-3 penalty kill for the second time. But the penalty kill held strong and killed both offenses, denying numerous attempts by the Jets to tie the game.
With 3:15 left in the game, Stars left wing Mason Marchment pushed the puck into the Jets zone in an odd man rush with line-mate Tyler Seguin. As the pair advanced on the net, Jets defenseman Nate Schmidt lowered himself to the ice in an attempt to block Marchment from taking a shot on goal. But Marchment elevated the puck up and over the sprawled Schmidt to Seguin, who tipped it behind Hellebuyck and doubled the Dallas lead.
The Stars pressed into the Jets zone as time ticked off the clock, preventing Hellebuyck from retreating to the net and give the Jets the 6-on-5 advantage. With 1:19 remaining, the goalie finally made his escape to the bench, but the effort was in vain.
Next up for Dallas is yet another battle against the Calgary Flames as the Stars travel to Alberta on Thursday.
Leave a Reply