Stars Score 4 Unanswered Goals To Win Winter Classic Against Nashville At Cotton Bowl
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - The Dallas Stars got off to a slow start at the Cotton Bowl against the Nashville Predators, but came back to win 4-2.
Blake Comeau scored a goal near the end of the second period bringing the Stars within 2-1.
Then in the third period, the Stars scored three goals in a five-and-a-half minute span.
They were courtesy of Mattias Janmark, Alexander Radulov and Andrej Sekera.
The Stars scored four goals in less than eight minutes, overcome a two-goal deficit they had after a game misconduct penalty early in the first period when Stars forward Corey Perry was ejected after he elbowed defenseman Ryan Ellis in the head.
The power-play goal by Radulov from the right circle was the second of three goals for the Stars in the third period before a crowd of 85,630 at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, the second-largest crowd to attend an NHL game.
Mattias Janmark had a goal and an assist in the third period for the Stars. John Klingberg assisted on both power-play goals to start the third before Sekera's first goal in nearly three years.
Dallas got its first goal with 1:08 left in the second period, when Jason Dickinson skated around the back of the net and passed across the front of goalie Pekka Rinne to Blake Comeau for the shot that made it 2-1.
Rinne and Stars goalie Ben Bishop both had 31 saves.
Dallas reached the midpoint of its 82-game regular season with its third win in a row. The Stars also overcame a 2-0 deficit in their previous game, with four goals in the third period of a 4-2 win at Arizona on Sunday.
Nashville has lost three in a row.
The Predators led 2-0 after Matt Duchene scored a goal and assisted on another by Dante Fabbro during the extended power play from Perry's penalty less than three minutes into the game.
Ellis was down on the ice for a short time, before being helped off the ice. He was then taken to the locker room on a motorized cart and never returned.
The hit by Perry came right after Ellis had gotten the puck in front of the blue line. Officials issued the game misconduct penalty after reviewing replay.
After another Dallas penalty created a 5-on-3, Duchene's ninth goal put the Predators up 1-0. Time was running out on the five-minute major against Perry when Duchene assisted on Fabbro's fourth goal.
A sellout crowd of 85,630 attended the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, the second-largest crowd in NHL history (2014 Winter Classic: 105,491).
The game-time temperature in Dallas was 54.9 degrees, the highest for a Winter Classic game.
The 2021 NHL Winter Classic will be hosted by the Minnesota Wild at Target Field, the home stadium of the MLB's Twins.
NHL officials announced the site for next Winter Classic during Wednesday's game at the Cotton Bowl.
Minnesota's opponent for the next New Year's Day game will be determined later.
UP NEXT:
Predators: Travel to Los Angeles and play the Kings on Friday night.
Stars: Back in their real home arena, only a few miles from the Cotton Bowl, for a game Friday night against Detroit.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
