In Dallas, Jamie Benn hit for a double in the middle frame to give the Stars a 3-1 lead over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night. 
The two teams had played to a 1-1 tie after the opening stanza.
“We got through the first and we talked about getting more engaged in the game physically. He went out in the second period and did that,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “That’s leadership. That’s a way of showing the group and dragging the group into that part of the game, which was important as we move forward.”
The teams added one each in the third period with the Stars skating off with a 4-2 win, their third straight victory.
Jake Oettinger made 20 saves in the win.
“[Oettinger]’s been putting in the work on our practice days. He’s one of the best in the League for a reason,” Benn said. “When he plays with confidence, he stops pucks. He made a lot of big saves tonight. It’s good to see him play another solid game.”
The Stars moved to 43-19-9.
Michael Bunting scored at 2:45 in the opening stanza for a 1-0 lead to the Pens, scoring off a wraparound effort.
“They were opportunistic around the net,” Bunting said. “We knew that was going to be a tough area to defend. They scored a few goals there. I think that’s what hurt us. On the rush as well, they were good in transition. I think we could have done a better job of slowing them down.”
Dallas’ Joe Pavelski replied with a goal at 7:16 scoring off a rebound to tie the game, 1-1.
The Penguins dropped to .500 on the season with a 30-30-9 record.
“I thought there were instances where we needed to defend harder at our net front, and I thought we had opportunities at the other end of rink offensively where we simply have to execute and finish,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought when we got the second goal in the third period, you saw a boost from the group. There was an instant energy on the bench. We had opportunities prior to that throughout the course of the game that we didn’t execute that potentially could have given us an opportunity to feed off of it. Momentum’s such a big part of this game.”
In the middle frame, Benn picked up his pair of goals for the 3-1 lead.
Benn scored off a power play at 5:52 for a 2-1 lead to the Stars, scoring from the left circle.
He picked up his double at 7:09 for a 3-1 advantage headed to the third period.
In the third period, the Stars took all the win out of the Pens sails with a strike by Sam Steel at 4:37 for a 4-1 lead, scoring off a shot fro the near the top of the circles in the slot.
“I think it’s just little things we’ve been trying to build all year. Really grinding them in the [offensive] zone and working teams down,” Steel said of his linemates (Craig Smith and Radek Faksa). “It seems like the last couple of games, we’ve been getting goals late in the game. That comes from us doing the little things right and grinding them down and 
capitalizing. It’s been a nice little stretch, and we’re just trying to create momentum.”
The Penguins had one last push when Rickard Rakell scored just past the midway point of the third to trim the deficit to 4-2 for the final count on the scoreboard.
Tristan Jarry got the start, he made 16 saves, yielding four goals before getting the hook.
Alex Nedeljkovic made three saves in relief.
“I don’t think anyone was quitting. We had our effort there, had some chances [that] just weren’t necessarily going to the net,” Bunting said. “[Rakell] had a big one, we just couldn’t find the next one.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.