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 That was the case again Thursday, when left winger Jamie Benn
delivered a power-play goal with 5:55 remaining and the game tied
3-3 in an eventual 6-3 Stars' win against the Winnipeg Jets at
American Airlines Center.
Benn knocked a rebound off the far post and in after Jets goaltender
Ondrej Pavelec, who stopped 28 of 32 shots before departing the ice
with 2:21 remaining, denied the initial slap shot from center Tyler
Seguin. Dallas went on the power play with 6:32 remaining after Jets
defenseman Dustin Byfuglien was called for holding.
"Just a lot of good work by the other four guys. I pretty much stand
in front and tap them in," Benn said.
Dallas had successfully killed off a double-minor on Seguin for high
sticking several minutes before the Byfulgien penalty.
"We have an opportunity to go ahead," Jets coach Paul Maurice said
of the four-minute power play. "We can't make it and they score on
that one. It's better than our last effort, not good enough to win
the game and we keep working."
Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen stopped 35 of 38 shots to earn his
fourth consecutive win.
"It was great to see him (Lehtonen) battle," Stars coach Lindy Ruff
said. "He gave us three or four real good saves when we needed
them."
Right winger Blake Wheeler and defensemen Jacob Trouba and Tyler
Myers scored for Winnipeg, which lost its third straight.
Myers tied the game at 3-3 at 9:17 of the third period when he beat
Lehtonen far post with a wrist shot from the high slot, but the Jets
could never regain their lead.
Dallas added late empty-net goals from left winger Antoine Roussel
and center Vernon Fiddler.
"I thought the way we were playing in the third period, I was very
comfortable with the lead," Ruff said. "I thought a great kill in
the third period when we needed that, and followed by the power play
that got the job done for us. We've been working hard on our
empty-net situation, and it came through for us."
Right winger Ales Hemsky had a goal and two assists; Fiddler,
defenseman John Klingberg and center Colton Sceviour a goal and an
assist each while defenseman Johnny Oduya and Seguin each had two
assists.
Dallas capitalized on an early Winnipeg penalty, getting a
power-play goal from Klingberg 2:32 into the game to take an early
lead. Klingberg scored with a wrist shot from the high slot that
beat Pavelec top shelf to his short side.
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However, the Dallas lead didn't last long. Winnipeg went from down
1-0 to ahead 2-1 with two goals in 18 seconds.
Wheeler opened the scoring for the visitors with his eighth goal of
the season at 4:13 of the first. After center Bryan Little passed
Wheeler the puck via a carom off the boards, Wheeler's wrist shot
from the far edge of the left circle beat Lehtonen to his short
side.
Eighteen seconds later, Trouba scored his first goal of the season
off a rebound to give Winnipeg its first lead at 2-1. Jets center
Adam Lowry tried to hit right winger Chris Thorburn on the rush, but
Lowry's pass instead hit Thorburn's skate. Lehtonen denied that
carom but left the rebound in the middle of the crease and Trouba
poked it in.
Dallas tied it late in the first when Sceviour scored his first of
the season at 12:38. Oduya hit the crossbar with a slap shot from
near the Winnipeg blue line. The puck landed in front of Sceviour,
who scored through Pavelec's five-hole for the equalizer.
The Stars regained the lead 3:17 into the second when Hemsky scored
off a breakaway. Defenseman Jordie Benn hit Hemsky near center ice
with a pass from the Dallas red line. Hemsky scored to Pavelec's
right with a well-placed wrist shot from the slot.
NOTES: Jets D Adam Pardy, a former Star, RW Anthony Peluso and D
Paul Postma were scratched. ... Stars RW Patrick Eaves (lower body),
D Jyrki Jokipakka and D Patrik Nemeth were scratched. Jokipakka
missed morning skate on Thursday, taking what Stars coach Lindy Ruff
called a maintenance day. Nemeth was assigned to AHL Texas on
Wednesday for a conditioning assignment. ... Former NFL receiver and
Dallas native Tim Brown, a 2015 inductee into the Pro Football Hall
of Fame, did the ceremonial puck drop prior to the game. ... Jets G
Ondrej Pavelec started his third consecutive game. ... Stars G Kari
Lehtonen was starting for the fourth time in the past five games.
... The Jets are in game two of a four-game road trip. ... The Stars
are in the second game of a three-game homestand.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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