Stars Get OT Win
DALLAS — Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg figured it was simply his turn to find the back of the opposing net.
After picking up two assists earlier in the game when his shots were deflected in by teammates, Klingberg capped a three-point night with the winner 3:18 into overtime in a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night at American Airlines Center.
Klingberg beat Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who stopped 33 of 36 shots, top shelf off the rush after a nice pass from center Tyler Seguin.
“I think they got caught with some guys that were tired,” Klingberg said. “I was just trying to find an open lane for (Seguin) to find me there, and he was making a good saucer pass there. It was pretty empty, and it was fun to see it go in.”
Center Jason Spezza and left winger Jamie Benn, who also had two assists, also scored for Dallas (14-4-0), which won its second straight.
Goalie Kari Lehtonen stopped 22 of 24 shots for Dallas.
“I thought we played well. It was one heck of a hockey game,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “It’s a good team. Their goalie made some huge saves. We played a heck of a game.”
Minnesota (10-3-3), which saw its three-game winning streak end, had
goals from right winger Nino Niederreiter and defenseman Marco Scandella.
“Could never grab the lead, which was I think something that would have helped us for sure in the game, but yeah, we got a point, which is OK but certainly felt like we left some things out there that we could have done better,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said.
Benn scored 2:26 into the third period by redirecting a Klingberg wrist shot from near the Wild blue line for a power-play goal. Dallas was 24 seconds into a power play resulting from Wild center Charlie Coyle being whistled for hooking Dallas center Cody Eakin at 2:02 of the third.
Spezza gave Dallas an early lead with a power-play goal 7:41 into the game. Spezza redirected a Klingberg wrist shot from the high slot for his sixth goal of the season.
Dallas had one second remaining on the power play after Wild left winger Chris Porter was called for high-sticking Seguin at 5:40.
The Stars led 1-0 after the opening period.
Minnesota tied it 5:15 into the second when Niederreiter scored his sixth goal of the seasonon a deflection. Niederreiter got his stick on a wrist shot by defenseman Jared Spurgeon from the left point. After an official review to determine whether or not Niederreiter interfered with Lehtonen, the goal was ruled valid.
Wild defenseman Matt Dumba rang a slap shot from the left point off the far post at 9:01 of the second period with Minnesota on the power play.
It was 1-1 at the second intermission.
Scandella, who returned to the ice after missing the previous two due to a family issue, made it 2-2 with his third goal of the season, a wrist shot from the high slot that deflected off the right skate of Benn before beating Lehtonen high on his glove side.
“Yeah, it was great. I was real happy for him, getting that goal,” Yeo said of Scandella’s performance. “It’s pretty impressive really that he could not be on the ice all week and then come out and play the way that he did tonight. He was a horse, certainly one of our leaders there tonight.”
With 1:05 in regulation, Lehtonen denied Niederreiter at the near post.
The Wild left town with a point after overcoming deficits of 1-0 and 2-1.
“There’s no quit in our team, we know that. It’s nice to see,” Coyle said. “To battle back, yeah it’s a good thing and like I said, that point is going to be huge down the road.”
