Three days after the Stars defeated the Sharks 3-2 in a seven round shootout, Dallas heads to the west coast to take on the Sharks in the second game of a home-and-home series.
With just over a month to go in the regular season, the Dallas Stars look to keep pace with the Winnipeg Jets at the top of the Central Division with the second game in a row against the San Jose Sharks.
Saturday's game against the bottom feeders of the Western Conference was much closer than Dallas wanted, with the game decided in the seventh round of a shootout on a beautiful goal from Stars captain Jamie Benn.
Dallas had to complete another third period comeback, trailing 2-1 before Jason Robertson cashed in on a power play goal to send it past regulation. It was the Stars 19th comeback win of the season, second only to the New Jersey Devils.
For a Sharks team that is 1-7-2 in their last 10 games, they played a strong game and competed with the Stars from start to finish, even though the shots appeared lopsided throughout most of the game. William Eklund started San Jose off on the right foot with a beautiful drag around Jake Oettinger after an initial shot rebounded off the pads and right back on Eklund's stick.
Radek Faksa opened up the scoring for the Stars in the second period when he was able to shove a loose puck behind Magnus Chrona into the back of the net. Faksa's last goal came on January 8th against the Minnesota Wild, and one of the rare times the fourth line has helped on the score sheet recently.
Filip Zadina, former sixth overall pick of the Detroit Red Wings, gave the Sharks the lead again in the second before Robertson tied it in the third.
Oettinger had to make several saves on high-danger scoring chances in regulation before playing the hero in the shootout by saving the final five attempts from the Sharks to allow Benn to win the game. Oettinger was good, but was outshone by Chrona, who was only making his third start in the NHL. Chrona had 38 saves and looked comfortable on the road despite seeing 15 more shots than Oettinger.
Chrona was only starting because goalie Mackenzie Blackwood recently went on injured reserve and the Sharks were playing the first of a back-to-back. Former Wild goalie Kaapo Kahkonen got the start Sunday against Minnesota, a game in which the Sharks led 2-0 but ended up losing 4-3 in regulation.
The Stars are still trying to work out some kinks from their minor skid at the end of February, some of which can be attributed to injuries. But after their brutal 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche last Tuesday, the Stars are on a two-game win streak, defeating the Winnipeg Jets before Saturday's win against the Sharks.
The only option for Dallas is to keep winning, as Winnipeg has cashed in two more wins since their loss against the Stars, and Colorado has had it easy with two blowouts against the only team worse than San Jose, the Chicago Blackhawks. Dallas is tied with the Jets for first in the Central Division, but Winnipeg still has three games in hand. Colorado remains two points behind.
Chris Tanev has missed both games since being traded from Calgary while getting his paperwork in order, and is a game time decision because of more travel related issues leaving Calgary Tuesday. Tanev's flight was delayed, and the Stars don't want to rush him into the lineup without any preparation.
Tyler Seguin and Evgenii Dadonov remain out for the time being, and for Seguin's linemates Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment, it has been a struggle in his absence. Duchene only has one goal since, and is -3 in that span. Marchment has no points and is also -3.
While that line has taken a nosedive, the third line of Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston and newcomer Logan Stankoven have picked up the slack, looking like a menacing second (or even third) line that could cause match-up problems for any team moving forward.
Joel Hanley was claimed off of waivers by Calgary Tuesday, giving the Stars seven defensemen on the roster with the addition of Tanev.
Puck drop is at 9:30 p.m. CST and can be seen on Bally Sports Southwest.
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