Stars 5, Jets 3
WINNIPEG -- The Dallas Stars looked fresh and relaxed after the All-Star break and used a three-goal second period to help defeat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 Tuesday night.
The win improved the Stars record to 32-14-5 and 69 points while the Jets fell to 22-25-3 and 47 points.
The Jets nearly tied the game at 4-4 when defenseman Tyler Myers rang a wrist shot off the post with less than a minute to play. Seconds later, Stars left winger Antoine Roussel iced the game with an empty net goal.
The Jets opened the scoring on -- gasp -- the power play at 14:16 of the first period when right winger Drew Stafford’s one-timer from the side boards beat Stars goalie Antti Niemi high to the glove side. Defenseman Jacob Trouba and left winger Andrew Ladd drew the assists while Stars defenseman Jason Demers was serving a two-minute penalty for tripping right winger Blake Wheeler.
The Jets’ power play has been among the worst in the league for the majority of the season.
The Jets’ penalty killing hasn’t been much better but it, too, had a good first period, holding the Stars at bay for more than five minutes.
The good special teams vibrations didn’t last, however, as Stars right winger Tyler Seguin scored just as Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien was stepping out of the penalty box 51 seconds into the second period. His one-timer past Connor Hellebuyck was his 26th goal of the season, with assists to defensemen John Klingberg and Alex Goligoski.
Just a couple of shifts later, Byfulgien was back in the box. After hammering center Vernon Fiddler into the boards in the neutral zone -- and subsequently being assaulted by three Stars players -- Byfuglien was given two minutes for boarding and two more for roughing. Fiddler, meanwhile, got two for roughing.
There was some good to come out of Byfuglien’s penalty for the Jets, however.
As center Mathieu Perreault, who was serving the extra two minutes, stepped out of the penalty box, the puck was shot around to him and he went in on an odd-man rush with fellow center Adam Lowry. Perreault drew a couple of defenders his way and fed Lowry, who was able to whack away at the loose puck in the crease several times before firing home his fourth of the season.
The Jets had a number of chances to add to their lead before the midway mark of the period but both Bryan Little and Andrew Copp failed to convert on breakaways. Little also missed another chance when he was in alone down low.
The misses proved costly as the Stars broke in three-on-zero just as they killed off a penalty and tied the game as Klingberg wristed home his seventh of the season at 14:41. The assists went to Demers and right winger Cody Eakin.
The Stars took their first lead of the game on a nifty three-way passing play with just over three minutes to go in the frame. Right winger Valeri Nichushkin provided the “tic,” fellow right winger Alex Hemsky the “tac” and Fiddler the “toe.” It was his seventh of the season.
The Stars took a two-goal lead early in the third period with Jets center Andrew Copp off for tripping when Seguin’s shot from the point off a failed clearing attempt eluded Hellebuyck. It was his 27th goal of the season.
Byfuglien got on the scoresheet the way the Jets prefer when he cut the lead to 4-3 at 10:14 of the third period.
His one-timer was his 15th of the season, with assists going to super rookie Nikolaj Ehlers and center Mark Scheifele.
The Jets opened the scoring on the power play at 14:16 of the first period when right winger Drew Stafford's one-timer from the side boards beat Niemi high to the glove side. Defenseman Jacob Trouba and left winger Andrew Ladd drew the assists while Demers was serving a two-minute penalty for tripping right winger Blake Wheeler.
The Jets' power play has been among the worst in the league for the majority of the season.
The Jets' penalty killing hasn't been much better, but it too had a good first period, holding the Stars at bay for more than five minutes.
The good special-teams vibrations didn't last, however, as Stars right winger Tyler Seguin scored just as Byfuglien was stepping out of the penalty box 51 seconds into the second period.
Byfuglien's one-timer past Hellebuyck was his 26th goal of the season, with assists to Klingberg and Goligoski.
Just a couple of shifts later, Byfuglien was back in the box. After hammering Fiddler into the boards in the neutral zone -- and subsequently being assaulted by three Stars players -- Byfuglien was given two minutes for boarding and two more for roughing. Fiddler, meanwhile, got two for roughing.
There was some good to come out of Byfuglien's penalty for the Jets, however.
As center Mathieu Perreault, who was serving the extra two minutes, stepped out of the penalty box, the puck was shot around to him and he went in on an odd-man rush with fellow center Adam Lowry. Perreault drew a couple of defenders his way and fed Lowry, who was able to whack away at the loose puck in the crease several times before firing home his fourth goal of the season to give the Jets a 2-1 lead.
The Jets had a number of chances to add to their lead before the midway mark of the period, but both Bryan Little and Andrew Copp failed to convert on breakaways. Little missed another chance when he was in alone down low.
The misses proved costly as the Stars broke in three-on-zero just as they killed off a penalty and tied the game 2-2 as Klingberg wristed home his seventh of the season at 14:41. The assists went to Demers and right winger Cody Eakin.
The Stars took their first lead of the game on a nifty three-way passing play with just over three minutes to go in the second frame. Right winger Valeri Nichushkin provided the "tic," fellow right winger Alex Hemsky the "tac" and Fiddler the "toe." It was his seventh of the season and put Dallas ahead 3-2.
NOTES: The Jets activated C Mathieu Perreault and C Adam Lowry from the injured reserve list on Tuesday afternoon and sent RW Matt Halischuk to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. ... The game was the fifth of a season-long, six-game home stand for Winnipeg. ... Even though the Stars moved south from Minneapolis in 1993, there was a smattering of Minnesota North Stars jerseys in the crowd. ... Prior to the all-star break, rookie RW Nikolaj Ehlers paced the Jets to a 5-2 win over Arizona with the first three-goal game of his NHL career on Jan. 26. Ehlers, 19, and Ilya Kovalchuk are the only teenagers to register a hat-trick in Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise history. ... In the press box for the Jets are D Adam Pardy, D Paul Postma and RW Anthony Peluso. Joining them from the Stars are D Patrik Nemeth, D Jordie Benn and LW Travis Moen.