Photos by Dominic Ceraldi
Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist for the Dallas Stars in a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Tuesday.
Jake Oettinger made 24 saves, and Jason Dickinson had two assists for Dallas (19-14-12), which has won four games in a row and is 6-0-2 in the past eight.
The Stars played without defenseman Miro Heiskanen and forward Roope Hintz, each day to day with a lower-body injury.
“We all love to play meaningful hockey, and right now every game means a lot,” Dickinson said. “I expect us to keep rising and keep pushing, and when we lose one guy, someone is going to have to step right in.”
Valtteri Filppula scored for Detroit (16-25-7), which has lost three in a row, including 3-2 in a shootout at Dallas on Monday. Jonathan Bernier allowed four goals on 12 shots before being replaced early in the second period by Thomas Greiss, who made the save on all 11 shots he faced.
“[Bernier] has been fantastic for us this year, and he’s fought through an injury to get back here,” Red Wings forward Sam Gagner said. “We have to do a better job of giving him a chance. Those goals were all going to be tough to stop.”
The teams will play the third of a four-game series at Detroit on Thursday
The win moved Dallas within one point of the Nashville Predators for fourth place in the eight-team Discover Central Division. The top four teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“It wasn’t that long ago that we were 12 points back, and now we are within one,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “The schedule isn’t going to get any easier — we have nine road games coming up (out of their final 11 games) — but we’re in the hunt.”
Tanner Kero gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 2:55 of the first period, and Robertson made it 2-0 at 5:07.
Joe Pavelski put the Stars ahead 3-0 at 14:17, tapping in Robertson’s pass from the edge of the crease.
“We were just terrible defensively in the first period,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “We’ve been a pretty good defensive team this season, but tonight we gave them easy, easy goals.”
Robertson has three goals and five assists during a five-game point streak. The rookie has scored 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past eight games.
“Jason’s a smart player who knows how to find open ice,” Dickinson said. “He always wants the puck, and he’s always yelling, so I know where he’s going to be. He’s playing great hockey.”
Jamie Oleksiak made it 4-0 at 3:36 of the second period, knocking in Denis Gurianov‘s pass to end Bernier’s night.
“We were putting up some good offensive-zone time, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot at the other end,” Gagner said. “We have been pretty good lately at keeping teams to the outside, but we let them get inside tonight.”
Filppula scored at 4:51, finishing a 2-on-1 break off a pass from Jakub Vrana to make it 4-1.
Dylan Larkin scored at 16:13 of the third period with Greiss pulled for the extra skater to make it 4-2.
Blake Comeau scored into the empty net at 19:07 for the 5-2 final.
Larkin left the game with 1:52 remaining.
“He was in pain at the end, but I didn’t see what happened,” Blashill said. “We’ll know more when we get to Thursday.”
Courtesy NHL.com
