The Dallas Stars secured two vital points Saturday night, and defeated the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 3-0 at Little Caesar’s Arena. After coming up just short on Thursday night, the Stars made the most of their second chance. Tanner Kero, Andrej Sekera, and Ty Dellandrea lit the lamp, and Anton Khudobin celebrated his first start since getting pulled after 40 minutes against Chicago on March 11 with a 21-save shutout. It was his sixth win and third shutout of the season.
The first period was deja vu all over again for the Stars. In a sign of how the period would be played, it took Detroit nearly five full minutes to register their first shot on goal, but the shot they got hit a skate and required an excellent save from Khudobin. The Dallas forecheck consistently gave Detroit fits and allowed the Stars to generally dominate possession. However, Detroit had arguably the better looks. Both Dylan Larkin and Robby Fabbri demanded Khudobin’s full attention. As the teams went to intermission, Detroit was very much still in the game.
Dallas started the second period on the front foot. Both Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz showed dangerous intent, but it was Kero that finally put Dallas ahead. Khudobin started the sequence with a fantastic save. Next, Jamie Oleksiak stole a puck in the neutral zone and feathered a pass across to Kero. The journeyman forward showed excellent skill taking the puck from skate to stick, and then slipping the puck through Thomas Greiss’ five hole. Dallas would take a 1-0 lead into the second intermission.
Initially, the third period resembled the first. Dallas held Detroit shotless for almost five full minutes, but immediately surrendered back-to-back chances to Larkin and Sam Gagne. Thankfully, Khudobin was sharp and Dallas was able to retain their 1-0 lead.
Andrej Sekera doubled the lead at 11:44. Radek Faksa jumped on a bad clearance from Greiss and got the puck up the wall. From there, Faksa and Dellandrea crashed the net while Sekera did the honors with a dipping shot from the point. More good work from Faksa iced the game. This time on the power play, the Dallas center kept a puck in the offensive zone. The puck eventually landed on Hintz’s stick, and into the back of the net courtesy of a Dellandrea ricochet.
From there, Dallas rode an aggressive forecheck and strong goaltending for the victory. Overall Dallas got contributions across the board. The Stars outshot the Red Wings 33-21 and went 1-for-3 on the powerplay. The penalty kill was a perfect 2-for-2. Elsewhere in the Disco, Chicago lost to Tampa Bay, but Columbus managed a shootout win against the Hurricanes. The Stars will be back in action tomorrow night at 7pm central against the Nashville Predators.