In Dallas, the Stars’ Fredrik Olofsson hit for his first NHL goal in the second period to give Dallas a 3-2 lead over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. That goal was enough, but the Stars added two strikes in the third period to win, 5-2.
“In the neutral zone there I just, for some reason, your instincts kind of take over and I’m like, ‘I’m going backdoor,'” Olofsson said. “Luckily, [Pavelski] is thinking the same thing right away. He was just waiting, waiting, waiting. [Defense] was sleeping and then tap-in. Hats off to him, that’s a play he does in his sleep. For me, it was just go to the hard areas and put it in.”
Jake Oettinger made 29 saves in the Dallas win.
Joe Pavelski had a goal and three points in the Dallas win.
“It’s always fun to see someone get their first,” Pavelski said. “It’s a big moment in a career, and it was a big goal for us at that time. Inside a great atmosphere like tonight, it was pretty special. It’s fun to be in that ‘celly,’ in that pile. Lot of fun.”
The Stars improved to 23-9-6.
“I think it’s been hard work, everyone is working hard, moving the puck quickly and getting shots through to the net,” Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen said about the power-play success. “Playing pretty simple, not trying to do too much. Just play it simple and work hard. You have to make clean passes, that’s the key.”
Alexander Barabanov staked the Sharks to an early 1-0 lead, before Dallas rallied with two goals on thepower play from Pavelski and Jason Robertson.
“We were just going back to the front of the net. I got his body and I think I got one of his arms and he was able to one-hand tip it still,” Sharks defenseman Jaycob Megna said. “I thought whoever shot it, he got it off as quick as he could. I think it surprised all of us that he was able to shoot that quick. Obviously, I got most of Joe, but you’ve got to get all of him. He’s an unbelievable tipper, so you’ve got to get his arms and his body at the same time.”
Near the midway point of the second period, San Jose’ Oskar Lindblom scored to knot the game, 2-2.
“In the third there, I felt like we were playing well and we do stupid mistakes and they scored goals. That’s why they won the game,” Lindblom said. “We had a lot of chances on our line, unlucky we couldn’t score more of them. I feel good and feel better and better about my game.”
The Sharks dropped to 11-20-7.
“Losing [stinks],” San Jose forward Logan Couture said. “You can only continuously say we did good things so many times. We’ve got to go out there tomorrow night and win a hockey game.”
Roope Hintz scored a shorthanded goal in the 16th minute of the third period to extend the lead to 4-2.
“I thought our energy levels were off a little bit, but we got some timely special teams,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “We got some goaltending at the right time, some big saves in the third. Good teams find ways to win games like that.”
Dallas’ Esa Lindell added a late empty-net marker for the 5-2 final.
James Reimer made 26 saves in the San Jose loss.
“They get two power-play goals. They get a short-handed goal when we have the opportunity to tie it,” San Jose coach David Quinn said. “That’s three of their five goals, and the other one was an empty-netter. I liked our game 5-on-5, for sure. I thought we played a good hockey game, but our special teams let us down tonight.”
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