Stars Score 3 Early On To Defeat 1st-Place Jets 4-2
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn's new linemates, Blake Comeau and Radek Faksa, were surprising goal scorers Saturday night against the Winnipeg Jets.
Comeau, Faksa and Brett Ritchie scored their first goals of 2019 to help the Stars defeat the Jets 4-2.
"We really didn't do anything special out there," said Benn, the Stars' captain. "We just put it in the corners and tried to hit guys and work our butts off. When you do that, good things happen."
The goals by Ritchie, Comeau and Faksa gave the Stars an early 3-0 lead after two periods. Tyler Seguin scored in the third period. Benn, who assisted on Comeau's goal, and Seguin lead the team with 18 goals each.
Ben Bishop made 15 of his 27 saves in the third period as Dallas snapped a four-game losing streak.
Branden Lemieux and Kyle Connor scored 21 seconds apart in the third period, rallying the Jets within 3-2. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 35 shots for the Jets, who had won four in a row and were 18-6 in their previous 24 games.
Dallas out-skated the Jets, playing their ninth game in 16 days.
Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice noted the Stars' speed and his team's fatigue.
"You're a little bit slow, they're real fast and it gets away from you," said Maurice. "We found a way to fight back."
Lemieux scored three goals in Winnipeg's last two games. Connor has three in the last three games overall, and three in three games against the Stars this season.
During their four-game skid, the Stars scored three goals and were 0 for 11 on the power play.
The Stars scored their first power-play goal in five games when Ritchie tipped in John Klingberg's shot from the blue line at 6:54 of the first.
"I'm playing as the middle guy there," said Ritchie said. "(Klingberg) said the last game he played them that he was able to get some shots through. I was ready for that."
Ritchie's third goal of the season was his first point since Dec. 7. He has played in 10 of the Stars' 20 games since then and was a healthy scratch in the other 10.
Comeau gave the Stars a 2-0 lead 22 seconds into the second period. He took a rebound of a shot by Esa Lindell and wristed it past Hellebuyck from the left side of the net. Comeau's fifth goal was his first point since Dec. 29, after a nine-game goal drought.
Roman Polak came out of the penalty box, and 14 seconds after the Stars' fourth successful penalty kill, he assisted on Faksa's eighth goal, a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle at 13:36 of the second. Faksa had been without a goal in eight games, dating to Dec. 31.
Winnipeg's Lemieux skated in from the right corner and shot past Bishop into the left corner of the net at 3:25 of the third. After the faceoff, the puck went to Connor low in the right circle, and he sent it into the upper right corner.
"That next shift after you get scored against and you're up 3-1 at home, you have to get the momentum back," said Dallas Stars head coach Jim Montgomery. "We didn't do that. But besides that, the rest of the third period was a good period."
The Jets were unable to score on their five power plays.
"It's a tough power play to stop," Comeau said after playing 4:12 on the penalty-killing unit. "Our PK's been pretty solid all year. We've got guys that will work."
The Stars have 11 days off before going up against the Buffalo Sabres Jan. 30 in the fifth of six straight home games.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
