Stars 6, Wild 3
SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- The Dallas Stars have found an unconventional formula for success on the road in Minnesota this season: Dig an early hole and forcefully climb out of it.
Trailing by a pair of goals early, the Stars stormed back for a 6-3 victory over the Wild on Monday. It was the second time this season they've won in Minnesota after falling behind by two or more goals in the game.
Defenseman Jordie Benn and centers Vernon Fiddler and Tyler Seguin all scored in a 4:30 span late in the second period, erasing Minnesota's 2-0 lead, and giving the Stars (25-7-2) their third win over the Wild this season.
Left winger Antoine Roussel added a third-period goal, while center Cody Eakin and Fiddler scored empty-net goals late for Dallas, which is on a two-game winning streak. Goalie Antti Niemi didn't start, but finished with 30 saves for Dallas to earn the victory. He replaced Kari Lehtonen, who was lifted after allowing two goals on four shots.
Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon and center Charlie Coyle scored early, but the Wild saw a lead slip away versus Dallas for the second time in a month. The Wild (17-9-6) trailed 4-2 when right winger Nino Niederreiter scored midway through the third period to make it interesting.
Goalie Devan Dubnyk finished with 28 saves for Minnesota, which has lost two in a row.
The Wild led Dallas 3-0 in the third period on Nov. 28 at home, but fell 4-3 in overtime.
Lehtonen was playing in his 16th game of the season for Dallas, but he didn't make it to the second TV timeout after Minnesota scored on two of its first four shots.
Spurgeon started things off with a rising shot that fooled Lehtonen up high and caught the corner of the net, giving the Wild a quick 1-0 lead at 4:57 of the first period.
With the Stars pressuring a few minutes later, the Wild were able to chip the puck out of their zone and key a three-on-one break with right winger Justin Fontaine dishing a pass to Coyle. As he came across the blue line, Coyle snapped off a wrist shot that fooled Lehtonen on the glove side.
It was the last shot Lehtonen would face, as Niemi came on in relief just 8:16 into the game.
Niemi was tested right away but managed to turn aside a breakaway by Wild left winger Zach Parise to keep the score 2-0 after 20 minutes.
Dallas got on the board with 5:01 left in the second period when Benn ripped a low shot from the blue line that found a route through a crowd in front of Dubnyk and caught the lower right corner of the net. It was the first goal of the season for Benn.
The Stars took a 3-2 lead with a pair of goals in the final 90 seconds of the second period.
First, Fiddler scored on a power play when he was the second player to redirect a shot from defenseman Alex Goligoski.
And with just over 30 seconds to play, Seguin capitalized on a turnover by the Wild, getting the puck all alone in front of Dubnyk and popping a wrist shot that eluded the goalie's glove.
NOTES: It was 15 years ago this week (Dec. 17, 2000) that the Dallas Stars played their first game in Minnesota vs. the Wild -- a 6-0 win by the home team. The Stars made their home in Bloomington, Minn., for 26 years as the Minnesota North Stars before relocating to Texas in 1993. To celebrate the anniversary, the Wild held a "Winter Whiteout" night, wearing their white sweaters at home and encouraging fans to wear white to Monday's game. ... Dallas LW Antoine Roussel, from Roubaix, France, is one of just eight French-born players to skate in the NHL. ... Wild D Jared Spurgeon signed a four-year contract extension worth $20.75 million on Monday. ... Dallas is above .500 in Central Division games this season, which is a significant step forward from a year ago. The Stars finished 8-14-7 in division games last season, which was worst in the seven-team Central and contributed to them missing the playoffs.