Head coach Lindy Ruff hit the button on the line blender in the second period and that turned out to be the turning point.
The Stars, down 3-0 at that point and getting badly outplayed, immediately took full control of the game and stormed back for an incredible 4-3 overtime victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Tyler Seguin scored the game-winner in 3-on-3 extra time, while Alex Goligoski, Jamie Benn and John Klingberg also found the net. Seguin, Benn, Klingberg and Cody Eakin all finished with two points. Antti Niemi, making his second start in as many nights, made 23 saves, including the ones that he most needed to make later in the game.
Mike Heika talked recently about the Stars winning a lot of “statement” games. How’s this one stack up?
Despite trailing 9-7 in shots after the first, the Stars would end up peppering over 40 shots on the Minnesota net, finishing with a 44-26 advantage overall.
Things didn’t start well for Dallas, with Minnesota controlling play early. The Wild struck first after Thomas Vanek threw a hopeful shot from the high circle into traffic, with the seeing-eye shot somehow finding it’s way through the crowd and past a screened Niemi to make it 1-0.
Minnesota made it 2-0 not long after when Valeri Nichushkin made an errant offensive zone drop pass right into the hands of Justin Fontaine, who then sprung the Wild in on a 2-on-1. Patrik Nemeth, the lone man back, defended neither the shot nor the pass, allowing Vanek to feed it to Coyle for a slam-dunk of a one-timer.
The Stars had a prime chance to get back into the game early on in the second, starting the period on the powerplay, but wound up digging themselves deeper into the hole. Right as the man-advantage was expiring the Wild collected the puck and fed it up to Jason Pominville coming right out of the box, who fired a perfect slapshot top corner past Niemi. That’s 3-0.
Then, with his team flagging, Ruff made some key line changes, putting Eakin up on the top line with Benn and Seguin, while also placing Patrick Sharp with Jason Spezza. With the Wild deciding to sit back and try playing it safe the floodgates were then opened for a newly-motivated Dallas side.
The Stars finally got on board early in the third. After some great work by Nichushkin along the boards to corral the puck he fed it to Jordie Benn at the point. Benn’s hard shot was deflected home by Goligoski as he snuck down low and cut through the slot.
Things got rocky for the Stars a few minutes later, getting put on the penalty kill, but Eakin intercepted a pass and got the puck to Jamie Benn for a 2-on-1 chance. Benn elected to shoot and made no mistake, bringing the Stars within one.
John Klingberg completed the comeback with just 5:26 left in the game, making a stunning move to walk the blueline to hold the zone before wiring a perfect wrist shot into the top corner. 3-3.
Overtime started shakily for the Stars, with Minnesota winning the first two faceoffs and controlling the puck as they tried to slow down the pace to their own liking. It appeared to be working until the Stars forced a turnover and a rush up ice with their big 3-on-3 trio of Benn, Seguin and Klingberg going the other way. Benn wrapped the puck around the net and, catching Minnesota goalie Darcy Kuemper biting too hard in the process, found an open Seguin in the slot to ice the game. Exhale.
The win puts the Stars to 19-5 on the season, with this most recent win easily being the most thrilling and improbable of them all. At this point, just what else does this team have left in their bag of tricks?