Dallas Stars Cruise Against Jets, Win 6-3

The Dallas Stars still have not lost consecutive games in the 2015-2016 season.

While the Winnipeg Jets had a chance to end that stat Thursday night, the Stars had enough to defeat their divisional opponent.

Period 1

Just 13 seconds into the game, Patrick Sharp was sent to the penalty box, but the Jets couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. Instead, Toby Enstrom went to the sin bin for Winnipeg, and the Stars got their chance on a man-advantage. John Klingberg made the Jets pay just eight seconds into the power play, and gave the Stars a 1-0 lead just 2:32 into the game.

But the momentum was short-lived. Blake Wheeler scored at the 4:13 mark from a very tough angle, one that he just threw on net from far away, but Kari Lehtonen couldn’t come up with the save. And just 18 seconds after Wheeler scored his eight goal of the season, Jacob Trouba scored his first goal of the season, and gave the Jets a 2-1 lead.

Just as the eventful action seemed to slow down, Colton Sceviour also notched his first goal of the season with 7:22 left in the period, off of a rebound right in front of the net.

While both teams had their equal share of chances for the remainder of the period, neither team could take the lead. After the first 20, it was knotted at two.

Period 2

The Dallas Stars came out of the intermission firing and motivated. Just 3:17 into the period, Jordie Benn found Ales Hemsky all the way down the ice, and #83 slipped it past Ondrej Pavelec‘s left leg pad to give Dallas a 3-2 lead.

Midway through the period, the Jets had a power play after too many Dallas Stars were on the ice, but Kari Lehtonen made some exceptional saves to keep the game at two a piece.

With 7:03 left in the period, Ales Hemsky had the same chance on a very similar play as his goal earlier in the period, but couldn’t find the back of the net on the breakaway.

And another chance came for the Stars, as Jason Spezza came just inches away from increasing the Dallas lead to two, but missed just wide of the net.

Heading into the final period, the Dallas Stars held a 3-2 lead.

Period 3

To start the final period, offensive chances were split fairly evenly.

Winnipeg and Dallas both had plenty of quality shots on net, but struggled to find a goal.

A very clear slash was missed by the referees, and Tyler Myers scored with 9:17 left to tie the game back up.

Dallas Stars fans booed mercilessly, but in the end, the zebras have the final word.

It didn’t matter for long, though.

Stars Captain Jamie Benn scored his 11th goal of the season, a power play goal, to give his team a 4-3 lead with 5:55 left in the game.

With 2:21 remaining, Winnipeg pulled Pavelec to the bench for an extra attacker, looking for the game-tying goal.

Instead, Antoine Roussel scored into the empty net at the 18:46 mark, securing the Stars victory.

Winnipeg kept Pavelec off the ice, however, and Vernon Fiddler scored into the empty net as well to put the cherry on top.

The Dallas Stars won 6-3, although the game was much closer than the scoreboard showed.

Thoughts and Observations

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Ales Hemsky and Vernon Fiddler had exceptional games tonight in my eyes.

Fiddler had a goal and assist, and was efficient for the Stars from the first second to the last.

Hemsky also found the back of the net once, and tallied two assists as well.

Hemsky skated extremely well tonight, and as a result, had numerous offensive chances and great set-ups throughout the entire game.

Kari Lehtonen had a remarkable night, too. With 35 saves from 38 Winnipeg shots, Lehtonen is now 7-1-0 in the crease this season. After last season’s inconsistency, Lehtonen has done a phenomenal job thus far in the new campaign.

Next: Dallas Stars Will Experience Central Division Rigor All Year

Next up for the Dallas Stars is another divisional game on Saturday night. The Stars face off with the Minnesota Wild at 7:00, the third of four games on this current Dallas home-stand.