Game Recap: Stars Erase Early Deficit To End Penguins Win Streak In Regulation

For the fourth straight game, the Stars walked away with a chaotic win on home ice. This time, they ended the Pittsburgh Penguins' 10-game win streak with a three-goal comeback in Saturday’s matinee affair.

The Penguins started things off early with two goals, 30 seconds apart, within the first 6:30 of the first period. First, it was Brian Dumoulin with a wrist shot, then Kasperi Kapanen tipped in a point shot to take a 2-0 lead. Dallas was outshot 11-7 in the period and outplayed for a large portion. Towards the end of the period though, the Stars began to find their game, getting pucks in deep and putting pressure on Tristan Jarry.

“What we talked about after the first period, it just seemed to me that we were giving them a little bit too much respect,” Stars head coach Rick Bowness said. “Thats a great hockey team over there. They are very well coached, they are very hard to play against. I think in the second and the third, we started to play Dallas Stars hockey against them and being more aggressive.”

After killing an early power play opportunity, Dallas pushed the pace for much of the second period. Jarry stood tall for the Penguins and Jake Oettinger did his part on the other end to keep the deficit at two. After some crazy scrambles around the net, feisty play around the crease, and chances for Dallas, Denis Gurianov finally broke the ice, following up after his initial shot was blocked to cut the lead in half.

For what felt like an eternity, the score remained the same. Dallas killed off multiple Penguins power plays, going 3-3 on the kill in the game. Pittsburgh did not record many scoring chances in the third other than a shot ripped off the post on a cross-crease pass that could have given them a 3-1 lead.

Credit the Stars for showing fight and not giving up on the game throughout. They battled their way through a tough Penguins defense despite being unable to score on many great chances and when Joe Pavelski slammed home a rebound with 5:01 left in the game, it set the American Airlines Center crowd on fire.

That would not be it for the home crowd, however. Just a few moments later, the top line created a hectic net front scramble around Jarry and Roope Hintz displayed skilled hands, pulling the loose puck from behind the icing line to tuck it into the empty cage, giving the Stars their first lead of the day.

Oettinger and the Stars closed the deal in the final few minutes, extending their winning streak and ending the Penguins’. On top of the 10- game streak, the Stars also overcame a Penguins team that was 18-1-0 when scoring first and 18-0-1 when leading after two periods this season.

“We had some great looks and we couldn’t put the puck in the net. But we were getting chances and we just had to stay with it. Jake made the saves we needed him to make in the second and third and we just believed we could keep coming.”

Oettinger finished the night with 27 saves, including a few that not only kept his team in the game but also slowed the pace when things began to heat up.

The top two lines once again sparkled for Dallas with Robertson recording three assists and Pavelski and Hintz tallying goals while Gurianov scored his second goal in as many games and extended his point streak to three games (six points in that span).

“He’s [Gurianov] been a big part of our success lately,” Joe Pavelski said. “Usually, when we are good as a team, he is one of the guys that is contributing and driving the pace. He has found a nice little home there with Benn and Seguin, that line has been really good for us. He is creating a lot of momentum and he is getting rewarded.”

Dallas looks to repeat their success as they travel to face the St. Louis Blues on Sunday [Jan. 9] in another matinee matchup and their third game in four nights.