Stars Rally Twice to Earn a Point, Fall to Canes in OT

A point earned versus a point lost. That was the story in Raleigh on Saturday, as the Dallas Stars erased two different two-goal deficits before falling 5-4 in overtime to the Carolina Hurricanes. 

In the first forty minutes, special teams were king. Each team got on the power-play four times and each team cashed in on two of those chances. 

Stefan Noesen opened the scoring just over six minutes into the game with a deflection against the grain on Scott Wedgewood. The Canes would add a late-period goal from Andrei Schvechikov to increase their lead to 2-0, but Dallas was given a late power play to turn things around. 

On that man advantage, Joe Pavelski redirected a Jason Robertson point shot, scoring his 158th career power-play goal in his 1,200th NHL game. With the goal, Pavelski surpassed Mike Modano and moved into fourth among all U.S born skaters in that category. 

It was the perfect milestone game for Pavelski, with four of the nine goals in the game being scored by way of deflection, his specialty. 

After failing to convert on a brief 5-on-3 advantage early in the second period, Stars captain Jamie Benn perfectly deflected Robertson’s shot in the high slot, knotting the game at two just 5:38 into the period. 

The parade to the penalty box continued and the Canes took advantage. Teuvo Teravainen tallied his first goal of the season, beating Wedgewood up over the shoulder on the near side from the right circle. 

When Seth Jarvis slipped the puck through Wedgewood early in the third to extend the lead, it looked like curtains for the Stars. But as they have done so many times this season, Dallas rallied. 

Another deflection goal from Tyler Seguin and a slapper from Jani Hakanpaa against his former club just 1:42 apart tied the game at four. The Stars controlled much of the play in the third period until Carolina began to put the pressure on in the final minutes. 

Neither team was able to convert and the game remain tied after 60 minutes. 

In overtime, the Stars possessed the puck for over two minutes, not allowing Carolina to change. But they were unable to create a real quality scoring chance and once they turned the puck over, two Stars skaters got stuck behind the Canes net and Martin Necas finished off a 2-on-1 with Benn unable to get back to break up the play. 

The Stars moved to 2-1-1 on the trip, with a late regulation loss in Pittsburgh and a comeback overtime loss in Carolina as their only blemishes. 

Sam’s Three Stars

• First Star: Martin Necas, CAR (game-winning goal, 1 assist)
• Second Star: Jason Robertson, DAL (3 assists)
• Third Star: Andrei Scvechnikov, CAR (1 goal, 1 assist)