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Stars Hang On To Beat Panthers 6-4

Posted on by Michael Easley

The Dallas Stars completed their road trip with a regulation win over the Florida Panthers going 2-0-1 on the trip and are now 6-3-2 in road games this season.  Roope Hintz led the way on his birthday with two goals on a night where the Stars dominated the first period and clung to a lead the rest of the way as the Panthers clawed their way back to make it close.

Four Goals Out The Gate

This game started out slow early on for Dallas with the first five shots of the game going to the Panthers.  However, on the Stars’ first shot of the game, Hintz found the back of the net on a beautiful setup by Seguin off a 2-on-1 rush.

Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson extended their point streaks to a career high 10-games for both players.

Nils Lundkvist scored the second of the period and his first as a Dallas Star on an outstanding individual effort from a sharp angle.

Some tough work on the boards by Wyatt Johnston led to Jamie Benn’s goal which was also helped by Ty Dellandrea just 37 seconds after Lundkvist scored his gem.

Benn continued his excellent play as of late with another multi-point game with an assist as well on the Dellandrea open-net goal at the end of the game.

Just before the period came to a close, Tyler Seguin put the icing on the cake for the Stars.  His 2-on-1 goal assisted by Mason Marchment came on a shot that trickled in through the legs of Sergei Bobrovsky with just 8.3 seconds left in the frame.

Scott Wedgewood had an outstanding first period stopping all 13 shots the Panthers put toward him and keeping Dallas rolling despite two Panthers’ power plays.

Panthers Punch Back in the Second

Florida would come out and steal the momentum the Stars had built up in the opening period.  Spencer Knight replaced Bobrovsky in net for Florida to start the second.  Carter Verhaeghe got the scoring started for the Panthers with a shot that beat Wedgewood over his glove with just six seconds left in their third power play of the game.  Shortly after, Dallas counter-punched in the form of another goal from the birthday boy, Roope Hintz, assisted by Robertson.

Florida got that goal back on a 2-on-1 rush goal from Eetu Luostarinen assisted by Sam Bennett.  With 5:55 left in the period and on a Dallas Stars power play, Scott Wedgewood got injured stopping a shorthanded opportunity by Florida in a scary scene.  Wedgewood ended up getting stretchered off the ice and was later reported to be walking around and injured but not seriously.

Jake Oettinger replaced Wedgewood in a game where four goalies hit the ice.  Florida notched their third goal of the period at the tail-end of another power play with a tip from Sam Reinhart off the Aaron Ekblad blast making the score 5-3.

Stars Hold On For The Win

The final frame got a bit physical and a little too exciting toward the end for Stars fans.  Horrible memories of Panthers’ comebacks in the past had to be hushed as ultimately the Stars would be victorious.  Matthew Tkachuk got the game to within one goal as he was left all alone and slid one in past Oettinger in the low slot.

In a game where Mason Marchment was returning to his old home and team, he made his presence known in a scrap with Tkachuk down the stretch.  After a curious dolling out of penalties (Peter DeBoer quipped after the game that might be the first time Tkachuk has ever been “instigated against”), the teams remained even on the ice.  Despite not going up a man in the last few minutes, the Dallas Stars secured the win over the Panthers with an empty-net goal by Ty Dellandrea for the 6-4 victory.

The Stars head home for a four-game stretch after ending the road trip on a positive note.  The next game for Dallas will be on Saturday, November 19th at 7:00 PM CDT against the New York Islanders. It starts a stretch of four home games in six nights around the American Thanksgiving holiday.

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