Stars 6, Jets 3
DALLAS -- Left winger Jamie Benn scored the game-winner with 5:55 remaining in regulation and goalie Kari Lehtonen stopped 35 of 38 shots as the Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets 6-3 on Thursday at American Airlines Center.
Benn knocked a rebound off the far post and in after Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, who stopped 28 of 32 shots before departing the ice with 2:21 remaining, denied the initial slap shot from center Tyler Seguin. Dallas went on the power play with 6:32 remaining after Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien was called for holding Stars center Cody Eakin.
Right winger Blake Wheeler and defensemen Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers scored for Winnipeg, which lost its third straight.
Myers tied the game at 3-3 at 9:17 of the third period when he beat Lehtonen far post with a wrist shot from the high slot but the Jets were never able to regain their lead.
Dallas added a pair of late empty-net goals from left winger Antoine Roussel and center Vernon Fiddler.
Right winger Ales Hemsky had a goal and two assists; Fiddler, defenseman John Klingberg and center Colton Sceviour a goal and an assist each while defenseman Johnny Oduya and Seguin each had two assists.
Dallas capitalized on an early Winnipeg penalty, getting a power-play goal from defenseman John Klingberg 2:32 into the game to take an early lead. Klingberg scored his third goal of the season with a wrist shot from the high slot that beat Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec top shelf to his short side.
Klingberg's goal came eight seconds after Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom was whistled for hooking.
However, the Dallas lead didn't last long. Winnipeg went from down 1-0 to ahead 2-1 with two goals in 18 seconds.
Jets right winger Blake Wheeler opened the scoring for the visitors with his eighth goal of the season at 4:13 of the first. After center Bryan Little passed Wheeler the puck via a carom off the boards, Wheeler's wrist shot from the far edge of the left circle beat Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen to his short side.
Eighteen seconds later, Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba scored his first goal of the season off a rebound to give Winnipeg its first lead at 2-1. Jets center Adam Lowry tried to hit right winger Chris Thorburn on the rush, but Lowry's pass instead hit Thorburn's skate. Lehtonen denied that carom but left the rebound in the middle of the crease and Trouba poked it in.
Dallas tied it late in the first when center Colton Sceviour scored his first of the season at 12:38. Stars defenseman Johnny Oduya hit the crossbar with a slap shot from near the Winnipeg blue line. The puck landed in front of Sceviour, who scored through Pavelec's five-hole for the equalizer.
The Stars regained the lead 3:17 into the second when right winger Ales Hemsky scored off a breakaway. Defenseman Jordie Benn hit Hemsky near center ice with a pass from the Dallas red line. Hemsky scored to Pavelec's right with a well-placed wrist shot from the slot.
NOTES: Jets D Adam Pardy, a former Star, RW Anthony Peluso and D Paul Postma were scratched. ... Stars RW Patrick Eaves (lower body), D Jyrki Jokipakka and D Patrik Nemeth were scratched. Jokipakka missed morning skate on Thursday, taking what Stars coach Lindy Ruff called a maintenance day. Nemeth was assigned to AHL Texas on Wednesday for a conditioning assignment. ... Former NFL receiver and Dallas native Tim Brown, a 2015 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, did the ceremonial puck drop prior to the game. ... Jets G Ondrej Pavelec started his third consecutive game. ... Stars G Kari Lehtonen was starting for the fourth time in the past five games. ... The Jets are in game two of a four-game road trip. ... The Stars are in the second game of a three-game homestand.