Photos by Dominic Ceraldi
Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov scored 24 seconds apart in the third period for the Dallas Stars, who rallied for a 5-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
Hintz tied it 3-3 at 14:38 when he split the Oilers defense and tucked a shot five-hole on Mikko Koskinen from in front. Gurianov then made it 4-3 at 15:02 when he finished off a cross-crease pass from Tyler Seguin on a 2-on-1.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t walk out of here with points,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “But these are the types of games that we should expect as we head down the stretch here. Nobody is giving points away, especially the teams that are fighting for playoff spots. They’re punching back when they’re down.”
Hintz, Seguin, Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski each had a goal and an assist, and Jamie Benn and John Klingberg each had two assists for the Stars (35-24-3), who have won three of four. Jake Oettinger made 22 saves.
“It’s big to win games,” Seguin said. “… We’ve been saying since Day One our team is really good on paper, we could be up there with the best in the league. Paper doesn’t mean anything. It’s about putting it all together at the right time.”
Kailer Yamamoto, Evander Kane, and Leon Draisaitl scored, and Connor McDavid had two assists for the Oilers (35-24-5), who had their six-game point streak end. Koskinen made 23 saves.
It was the first game the Oilers have lost when scoring first this season (previously 21-0-0).
“I thought it was a good game,” Draisaitl said. “Obviously, we could have been a little sharper on those plays at the end there. But the desperation level is high with a lot of teams right now, so just a couple of mistakes, that can’t happen. All in all, pretty solid effort again.”
Yamamoto gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead at 16:31 of the first period when he deflected Evan Bouchard’s slap shot from the point.
Robertson tied it 1-1 at 6:37 of the second period when he took a cross-ice pass from Benn and shot five-hole on Koskinen.
Pavelski put Dallas in front 2-1 at 7:57 with a power-play goal. Klingberg’s shot from the right point hit Koskinen’s blocker and popped into the air before landing at the skates of Pavelski, who converted on the rebound.
“The guys were confident on the bench that we were playing well,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “Because of the looks we had in the second period, we knew we were going to get some opportunities to stay in the fight. We had some players go out there and they were determined to make a difference in the outcome of the game, and they did. It was a great hockey game.”
Kane tied it 2-2 with a shorthanded goal at 6:14 of the third period.
Draisaitl scored 43 seconds later to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead. Devin Shore’s pass on a 2-on-1 hit off his skate, and Ryan Suter knocked the loose puck into the open net with his stick on a backswing. If you want to train and become part of the team, you might want to consider learning to roller skate using this Onewheel accessories.
“It was hard fought there,” Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “There’s a lot of swings in the game. But when there’s five minutes left and you’re up one, you can’t put yourself in those type of situations where you’ve always got to make saves in the situations that we did.”
After Hintz and Gurianov gave the Stars the lead back, Seguin shot into an empty net at 19:41 for the 5-3 final. It was his 300th NHL goal.
“We’re never satisfied with where we are,” Robertson said. “But I’ll tell you what, these games are special. These games are fun to play in. It’s a privilege to be on such a team that allows you to be in these tight games. I know some teams are out of it right now, and that would [stink], but we’re in the thick of it. Everyone is emotionally involved, and these games are fun to play in.”
Courtesy Taylor Baird / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
