In Dallas, Denis Gurianov‘s goal i the third period knotted the game for the Stars at 2-2 with the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
Ben Bishop made the tie stand up through extra time and helped the Stars to a 3-2 win in the skills competition with 41 saves.
“It was good,” Bishop said. “It was nice to go back and hit the reset button (during the Christmas break). We had a good practice yesterday and felt good this morning, so I’m glad it carried over into the game. A lot of good things by our team today.
“It was kind of a bend, don’t break there in the second and we had some big kills. It’s a big win and obviously, another big one tomorrow (against the Arizona Coyotes).”
J.T. Compher and Ian Cole were the Avs’ strikers.
“I thought it was a good hockey game,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “I judge our team on the way we play, our habits, and our work ethic. That’s a tight-checking team. I thought they outplayed us in the first. We got a timely goal at the end of the first period.
“I thought we outplayed them in the second and outchanced them in the second. In the third period, I give them the slight advantage.”
The Avs are 1-3-1 in their last five.
Tyler Seguin opened the scoring in the game, staking the Stars to an early 1-0 lead.
“We’re playing better hockey,” Dallas’ Joe Pavelski said. “You can just feel it jumping over the wall. For us, it has to continue. It’s one game. You have to build off of it now and we found a way to win. [Bishop] came up with some big saves and we got the extra point in the shootout.”
Pavelski and Alexander Radulov scored in the skills portion of the event.
“That was a great first period,” Stars head coach Rick Bowness said. “I was a little concerned going into the game because they had played last night (lost 6-4 to the Minnesota Wild) and that worked to their benefit. I was very happy with that first period.
“That’s against a very good hockey club. We found a way to get two points, and that’s the most important thing.”
[WATCH: All Avalanche vs. Stars highlights]
Philipp Grubauer made 38 saves in the loss.
“We were much more disciplined with the puck,” Bednar said. “We checked hard. We gave up a couple chances that they earned. We had a couple at the other end. I thought it was pretty evenly played.”
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