Game Recap: Stars Never Quit, Tie Game Late & Beat Jets In Overtime Thriller

It is never a dull matchup when the Stars and Jets come together. Developing into one of the bigger rivalries for Dallas, five of the last seven games against Winnipeg have gone past 60 minutes, including all three this season.

After Blake Wheeler opened the scoring on a nifty transition play, Dallas had multiple opportunities to tie the game on the power play. Usually their biggest weapon, the power play laid an egg, finishing the night 0-5. The other side of special teams, however, was their key back into the game.

With Michael Raffl sitting for a touch foul, Roope Hintz jumped on a loose puck at the Stars blue line and was off to the races with Jamie Benn 2 on 1. Just before the Jets defender could lay prone to block the passing lane, Hintz slid a pass over to Benn, who delayed before sliding a sneaky shot through the legs of Connor Hellebuyck, who had his hands full with three Stars rushing at him.

In the third period, Benn was once again involved in a scoring play. This time, with the Jets on the power play, Mark Scheifele caught Benn in the face with a clear high stick. For the second straight game against the Jets, the call was missed and Scheifele scores seconds later to give the Jets a 2-1 lead.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating but it’s part of the game,” Seguin said. “We’ve had some calls bounce our way as well and you’ve got to try to regroup and we did that tonight.”

Dallas would not go away quietly. The intensity was cranked up just as it was in the third period in Arizona and the Stars began pouring on the pressure and shots in the Winnipeg zone. Denis Gurianov darted through the middle of the ice twice, beating multiple Jets defenders before being stopped by Hellebuyck. The next time up the ice, however, he made it count.

On a perfect three-man passing play, Benn dropped the puck to Seguin, who found a streaking Gurianov all alone on the backdoor for a tap-in with just over six minutes to play.

“It’s okay,” Benn laughed when asked about his chemistry with Seguin on the second line. “We want to keep getting better. We are just trying to do our part. We can be a really good second line on this team. We need to bring that offensive side of our game and try to help out Roope [Hintz] line.”

After securing a point each, both teams took the ice for yet another overtime battle. This time, it was Dallas who landed the knockout punch.

After a spectacular save from Jake Oettinger, Seguin rushed up the ice on a 2 on 1 with Miro Heiskanen. He looked off the defender and ripped a shot high off the chest of Hellebuyck before batting the rebound back at the net. The puck dribbled near the goal line but looked to be swept off by a Jets defender just before crossing. The game was stopped immediately and a quick video review determined that the puck did completely cross the line for a good goal and the game-winner.

“I saw Miro and just decided I didn’t want to pass to him,” Seguin joked. “No, great play by Jamie, and I was passing to Miro the whole way and just felt like that guy was baiting me. Quick shot last second, puck was in the air, and I felt like I got another whack on it. I thought it went in right away and I am happy it did.”

The win pushes the Stars within one point of the second wild-card spot and just four points behind Nashville for the first wild card.

“We were playing really well the whole game,” Rick Bowness said. “And we were getting plenty of opportunities and plenty of shots. So just stay in the fight.”

There is no time to rest for Dallas as they travel to Nashville to face those same Predators they are chasing. Due to icy weather in Texas, the team was unable to fly out last night following the game and will travel this afternoon. It is a tall task ahead but another chance for the Stars to push forward.

He Said It

“There is not much separating our two teams,” Bowness said about the Jets. “There are a lot of similarities in everything, goals-for, goals-against, specialty teams, goaltending, everything, We are very similar teams. Right now, we’ve got five points and they’ve got four. We’ve got one more game with them in two weeks so they are battles with these guys.”

Sam’s Three Stars

Third Star: Denis Gurianov (1G, 4 SOG)

Second Star: Tyler Seguin (GWG, 1A)

First Star: Jamie Benn (1G, 2A)