Stars Snap Winless Streak With Overtime Victory

Mar 3, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars center Cody Eakin (20) and left wing Jamie Benn (14) and defenseman John Klingberg (3) celebrate Eakin

The Dallas Stars snapped their six game winless streak in dramatic fashion by defeating the New York Islanders 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday night. The Stars received goals from Brett Ritchie and Vernon Fiddler in regulation and Cody Eakin capped off the night with the overtime game winner. Kari Lehtonen stood tall for the Stars as he made 35 saves on 37 shots. The Islanders received goals from Anders Lee and Josh Bailey.

Almost immediately after puck drop the Stars lost their best defenceman, Trevor Daley, to a vicious knee doled out by Islanders tough guy Matt Martin. Daley made a move towards the middle of the ice with the puck and Martin stuck out his knee to impede Daley’s progress. Daley went flying through the air and lied on the ice for a few moments following the incident. Martin received a five minute kneeing major and a game misconduct. The Stars had a few great opportunities on the extended man advantage but could not cash in.

Shortly after the penalty had expired, John Klingberg took down speedy Islander winger Michael Grabner. The Islanders would convert as Klingberg stepped out of the box on a nice passing play. Bailey redirected a pass from Ryan Strome for his 13^th goal of the season. The Islanders would take a 18-9 shot advantage and 1-0 lead to the room after the first period.

There was no scoring in the second period. Both teams traded great opportunities but the goaltenders had an answer for it all. The Stars would close the shot discrepancy slightly by outshooting the Islanders 13-9 in the second frame.

The third period started with a bang as Stars rookie winger Brett Ritchie tied the game only 2:24 in. Ritchie went to the front of the net after the Stars had controlled a faceoff and was rewarded. He hammered home a rebound off a point shot from Jyrki Jokipakka. It was Ritchie’s fourth goal of the season.

Five minutes after Ritchie tied the game 1-1, Vern Fiddler would give the Stars their first lead of the game. Ryan Garbutt fired a puck high over Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak’s head and off the glass. The puck took an unexpected bounce and laid right in front of the net for Fiddler to bang home.

The Stars cruised throughout the rest of the third period and did not give up much defensively. Lehtonen was playing extremely well and the turnovers were being limited.

With Halak on the bench, the Stars shot the puck down the ice with less than 10 seconds remaining in the third period. Islanders defenceman Travis Hamonic retreated to quickly fetch the puck and start one last rush. The Islanders chunked the puck into the zone and Anders Lee fired a desperation wrister from the half-wall. The low wrister defelcted off Jordie Benn’s skate and past Lehtonen. The goal came at the 19:59 mark of the third period and the Stars spirits were crushed.

It wasn’t long before the Stars needed to regroup and focus on getting the extra point in the overtime period. After John Tavares dropped a beautiful pass to Thomas Hickey who rung one off the post, the Stars would get their own golden chance to finish the game. Finish the game they did. After Benn outmuscled Strome for the puck at the defensive blue line, he broke in on a 2 on 1 rush with Cody Eakin. Benn faked the shot and slid the puck to Eakin who one-timed it into the back of the net. The Stars could finally exhale in relief!

Notes and Observations
– Dallas was only 3-10 past 60 minutes while the Islanders were 5-0 in overtime and 7-2 in shootouts coming into tonight. The Islanders perfect overtime record now falls to 5-1.

-Kari Lehtonen was the goaltender we had all hoped he would be this season. He made several big stops tonight and looked calm throughout the night.

-Trevor Daley left the ice early in the first period and did not return. He likely sustained a lower-body injury after being kneed by Martin.

-Patrik Nemeth played his first NHL game in over 19 weeks and logged 12:08 of ice time.

The Stars will head to Florida to play the Panthers on Thursday at 6:30pm CST. Rest assured, they have not forgotten what happened last time they met. Fireworks should be plentiful for that one!