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Stars end road trip with 5-2 loss to Jets

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The Dallas Stars looked to close out their five game road trip (2-2-0) with a positive record on Thursday night in Winnipeg, a city in which Dallas was dominated last season. Jason Dickinson was called up to Dallas from the Texas Stars and was brought into the lineup, along with the recovered Stephen Johns (concussion symptoms).

A quick start was a must against the Jets who are third in the NHL in first period scoring. The Jets were also starting the only goalie who has yet to lose a game in regulation–not Steve Mason, but Connor Hellebuyck (6-0-1) with a .940 SV%.

The Stars’ legs looked heavy early in the first period, and they were chasing behind their blue line on a few shifts. The Jets faced no resistance breaking out of their own zone and peppered Ben Bishop, who handled the shots cleanly. Dickinson made a nice centering pass to Mattias Janmark for Dallas’ first shot on goal but then promptly committed a holding penalty.

Winnipeg showed off their first period potency on the power play with a one-timer from top center Mark Scheifele. They immediately created a rush off of some poor passing by Dallas and created a scoring opportunity that Bishop amazingly stopped.

The Jets kept bringing the pressure, and after hitting the post on a point shot made Dallas pay for failing to clear the zone as Patrick Laine beat Bishop again from the slot. Physical play picked up in the game, which led to Gemel Smith and Brendan Lemieux engaging in some fisticuffs.

Greg Pateryn took an ill-timed penalty before the scrape and set Winnipeg up for their second power play. The penalty kill failed to click again for the Stars, and defenseman Tyler Myers fired a slap shot from the high slot to beat Bishop again. Winnipeg threatened to bury Dallas early.

Alexander Radulov, who has come alive in the scoring department as of late, managed to get his team on the board with a back-hander off of a face-off loss for his fifth goal on the year. The shot differential ended up looking a lot more respectable than one would expect at the end of the first period with Dallas being outshot 12-9.

In the second period, Dustin Byfuglien went down a little too easily in the open ice when Radulov pursued the puck which rewarded Winnipeg with their third power play opportunity. Radulov came out of the box and appeared to draw a tripping minor, but it went uncalled. Byfuglien finished off the play with a hard check on Radulov into the boards. Stars captain Jamie Benn took issue with the play, confronted Byfuglien, and it ended with the two exchanging blows.

The game got even chippier when Lemieux ran into Bishop’s crease, to which Bishop responded with a stiff arm and more scuffling. The ensuing 4-on-4 action resembled an overtime frame with scoring chances attempted in both zones.

The Stars tried to pull within one and created a 2-on-1 with Benn and Tyler Seguin, but Seguin hit the post with the shot. Trapped in their own zone after a long shift, Lindell took a hard shot off his skate, and the puck was cycled back to the high slot for a Brandon Tanev goal. However, the call on the ice was overturned on goaltender interference which had the Jets and their home fans fuming.

After catching the break, the Stars managed to get some elusive secondary scoring with an even strength goal from Mattias Janmark late in the second period.

The Jets caught a break of their own early in the third period when a puck bounced off of a heavily screened Bishop, touched Scheifele, and trickled behind the 6’7″ net minder. Later in the period, Jets winger Kyle Connor created a breakaway but was tripped from behind by Greg Pateryn, awarding Connor a penalty shot which he ultimately fanned on.

Desperation time came for the Stars with about three minutes left in the game when they strategically emptied their net when they possessed the puck. Scheifele finished them off with a hat trick, his third scored into the empty net.

Winnipeg was perhaps the most physical team that Dallas has played all season, yet Dallas wasn’t able to get any time on the power play. The Jets played a swarming brand of hockey, pressured pucks all night, and looked like a playoff team. The Stars looked road-weary, erratic, and generally did their goaltender no favors.

The Goals

First Period

10:58 The Jets had the Stars chasing on the power play, and Mark Scheifele beat Ben Bishop with a one-timer from the left circle. Stars 0, Jets 1

13:04 Esa Lindell fanned on the clearing attempt and young sniper Patrick Laine found the puck in the slot and cashed in. Stars 0, Jets 2

15:16 The Stars were caught chasing again on the penalty kill, and Tyler Myers screamed a slap shot past Ben Bishop to put the Jets up by three. Stars 0, Jets 3

17:59 The Stars lost the face-off, but Alexander Radulov recovered the puck and scored on a patient back-hander in which he forced Connor Hellebuyck to react first. Stars 1, Jets 3

Second Period

18:26 Mattias Janmark beat Connor Hellebuyck from high in the zone after some hard work in the neutral zone. Stars 2, Jets 3

Third Period

1:47 The Jets kept the puck in the Stars’ zone and Josh Morrissey fired from the point. The puck bounced in the air, off of Scheifele, and trickled in past Bishop. Scheifele recorded his second goal of the game. Stars 2, Jets 4

19:00 Mark Scheifele finishes the night with a hat trick, potting his third goal into the empty net. Stars 2, Jets 5

Jets lineup
Kyle Connor — Mark Scheifele — Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers — Bryan Little — Patrick Laine
Brandon Tanev — Andrew Copp — Shawn Matthias
Brendan Lemieux — Matt Hendricks — Joel Armia

Josh Morrissey — Jacob Trouba
Toby Enstrom — Dustin Byfuglien
Dmitry Kulikov — Tyler Myers

Connor Hellebuyck
Steve Mason

Scratched: Marko Dano, Ben Chiarot

Injured: Adam Lowry (upper body), Mathieu Perreault (lower body)

Stars lineup
Jamie Benn — Tyler Seguin — Alexander Radulov
Antione Roussel — Jason Spezza — Remi Elie
Jason Dickinson — Mattias Janmark — Devin Shore
Gemel Smith — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick

Marc Methot — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Esa Lindell — Stephen Johns

Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen

Scratched: Jamie Oleksiak

Injured: Martin Hanzal (lower body), Brett Ritchie (upper body)

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