Stars rally from a two-goal deficit, snatching victory in overtime. A franchise-record win streak continues after a thrilling comeback.
It may seem hard to believe what with a massive gap in time thanks to the Olympic break squeezed right in the middle, but the Dallas Stars have tied a franchise record with eight straight wins.
The 3-2 overtime win against Nashville on Saturday night was the latest in a string that dates all the way back to Jan. 23. At that point, the Stars only had two wins since December 22nd and were playing some uninspired looking hockey. How things can change over the span of a month.
Dallas has put together all kinds of different wins during their eight game run, including massive blown leads that nearly led to complete collapse, close games from start to finish and even a convincing blowout Wednesday to get started after the Olympic break. On Saturday, it was the first multi-goal comeback of the win streak.
Nashville led 2-0 thanks to a first period power play goal from Michael Bunting and a hard wrist shot from Steven Stamkos just over a minute later. Goaltender Jusse Saros was playing extremely well, fresh off of his performance in Italy backstopping Finland to a bronze medal.
Finally, in the second period, Wyatt Johnston converted on the Stars third power play of the game, extending his Dallas franchise record for most power play goals in a season. After the Stars scored, the whole team ratcheted up the intensity but couldn't find the tying goal before intermission.
In the third, the Stars came out with the same intensity and were rewarded only five minutes into the period when Nathan Bastian scored his fourth goal of the season. He picked up a rebound from a point shot and deked around Saros before roofing the puck to the top of the net for the goal.
In overtime, some sloppy play from Dallas led to two grade-A chances from Nashville, but Jake Oettinger stopped one and the second hit the post. The Stars took advantage, with their top overtime unit of Jason Robertson, Johnston and Miro Heiskanen connecting on the game-winner. Robertson had looked dangerous all game, and finally got his goal to win the game and seal the comeback.
In Oettinger's return from winning a gold medal with Team USA (despite not playing in any games), he settled down after the first period goals and stopped 25 of 27 shots.
Now, the Stars will hit the road for a rare March away game. The team heads to Vancouver to try and set a new franchise record for longest win streak. Dallas had a few chances to do that under former head coach Pete DeBoer, but the streak always ended in a tie at eight. Puck drop in Vancouver is Monday night.
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