Stars 4, Sharks 3
DALLAS -- Dallas Stars left winger Antoine Roussel had a goal and two assists and goalie Antti Niemi stopped 26 of 29 shots as the Stars defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Saturday at American Airlines Center.
Roussel scored the game-winner with 6:27 remaining in regulation by getting his stick on a wrist shot by defenseman John Klingberg. Roussel's redirect hit the pads of Sharks goaltender Alex Stalock and then deflected in off Roussel's right skate.
Sharks coach Peter DeBoer used a coach's challenge on the goal, stating that Stars center Colton Sceviour was offside. But after a short review, the goal was deemed valid.
Right winger Patrick Sharp, defenseman Jason Demers and centers Vernon Fiddler and Tyler Seguin also scored for Dallas. Demers, Fiddler and Sharp each had a goal and an assist while defenseman John Klingberg had two assists.
Seguin added an empty-net power-play goal with 1:23 remaining in regulation.
Dallas finished its four-game homestand at 3-1-0.
San Jose got goals from center Joe Pavelski, left winger Matt Nieto and right winger Joel Ward, who also had an assist. Stalock stopped 20 of 24 shots.
Dallas did something it has not in its past three games. The Stars scored first when Sharp scored his fourth goal in three games, 2:33 into the first period. Stalock denied a backhand by Demers, but Sharp pounced on the rebound, firing the puck into the top of the San Jose net.
Stars center Jason Spezza nearly put Dallas up 2-0 with 2:10 left in the first period, but Spezza found the crossbar with a rising slap shot from the right circle with the Stars on the power play.
Special teams were a big player in the second period. Demers put Dallas up 2-0 at 7:09 of the second with a shorthanded goal. Demers redirected a wrist shot by Roussel from the left circle for his third goal of the season.
San Jose then got on the board at 8:23 of the second when Pavelski deflected a wrist shot by defenseman Brent Burns in for a power-play goal. The Sharks were still on the same power play that Dallas scored on, resulting from an interference call on defenseman Alex Goligoski at 6:57.
The Sharks then tied it up when left winger Matt Nieto scored a shorthanded goal off the rush at 9:56. San Jose center Tommy Wingels started the sequence by collecting a turnover by Spezza in the neutral zone. Wingels rushed up the right side and fed Nieto in the slot and Nieto finished with a wrist shot under the blocker of Niemi for his second goal of the season.
Dallas recaptured the lead five minutes before the second intermission when Fiddler scored his first goal of the season off a wraparound. Fiddler skated behind the San Jose goal and then beat Stalock top shelf and to his short side to make it 3-2.
But, San Jose tied it a second time with 2:03 remaining in the second when Ward scored a power-play goal off a backhand. After center Patrick Marleau sent the puck toward the far post, Ward collected in and scored his sixth goal of the season, making it 3-3.
The Sharks were on the power play after Stars rookie center Radek Faksa was called for hooking at 17:20.
NOTES: San Jose Sharks D Dylan DeMelo and C Bryan Lerg were scratched. DeMelo and Lerg were recalled from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL on Friday. ... Dallas Stars D Patrik Nemeth and D Jamie Oleksiak were scratched. ... San Jose is playing game one of a two-game road trip. The Sharks are also playing Sunday afternoon at the Colorado Avalanche. ... Stars G Antti Niemi was starting his third consecutive game and for the first time against the Sharks, who he spent five seasons with before being traded to Dallas in June. ... Sharks D Brenden Dillon spent three-plus seasons with the Stars before San Jose acquired him last November. ... Saturday marks the first of three regular-season meetings between these former Pacific Division rivals. These teams will meet in San Jose on Jan. 16 and March 26, 2016. ... Dallas was concluding a four-game homestand.