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DALLAS — The Winnipeg Jets scored 5 goals in the second period Thursday night at American Airlines Center and turned a 2-0 deficit into an 8-3 win over the Dallas Stars. Winnipeg scored the game’s final 6 goals.
Dallas had not allowed 8 goals in a game since an 8-2 loss at Winnipeg on Nov. 8, 2016.
Jake Oettinger allowed 6 goals on 27 shots. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan pulled him one minute into the third period, right after Kyle Connor made it 6-3. Casey DeSmith stopped 1 of 3 shots in relief.
Oettinger credited the Stars’ first period and pointed to the high-end skill on Winnipeg’s roster when he described the second.
Oettinger said it looked as if Dallas “thought they were just going to roll over and let us win.”
He entered the game with a 1.99 goals-against average, fourth-best in the NHL. Oettinger is now 9-4-1 with a 2.33 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage.
Mark Scheifele And Dawson Mercer Score Twice In Winnipeg’s 5-Goal Second Period
Arttu Hyry opened the scoring at 4:19 of the first period on a pass from Roope Hintz. Thomas Harley picked up the second assist. With 1:28 left in the period, Hintz took a lead pass from Jason Robertson on a breakaway and slid a backhand through the five-hole of Stuart Skinner.
Dylan Samberg cut the lead to 2-1 with a shot from the point 1:11 into the second period. Mark Scheifele tied it at 7:03, picking up a loose rebound in the slot.
David Perron put Dallas back in front at 11:14 when Harley’s point shot glanced off him in front of the net. It was Perron’s first goal since he signed a one-year, $850,000 contract to play his 20th NHL season.
Dawson Mercer tied it 3-3 at 13:55 on a pass from Cole Perfetti. Jamie Benn was called for slashing at 16:54. Scheifele scored on the ensuing power play at 18:12 with a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Gabriel Vilardi, giving Winnipeg its first lead. Mercer finished a 2-on-1 with nine seconds left in the period for a 5-3 lead.
Scheifele finished with 2 goals and 1 assist. His 929 career points tie Dale Hawerchuk for the most in Jets and Atlanta Thrashers franchise history. Mercer has 2 goals in each of his last 2 games.
Connor and Vilardi each had 1 goal and 2 assists. Samberg had 1 goal and 1 assist, Perfetti had 2 assists, and Skinner made 30 saves.
Stars Hold Players-Only Meeting After Jamie Benn’s 1,000th Point Is Waved Off
Connor scored on a shot from the bottom of the right circle 1:00 into the third period. DeSmith took over in goal. Vilardi made it 7-3 at 15:12, and Cole Koepke scored 14 seconds later.
Perron put another puck in the net on a late Dallas power play, but it was ruled a kick-in on the ice. Benn would have earned the second assist and his 1,000th career point. Winnipeg also had a goal disallowed for offside. Benn remains at 999 career points, all with Dallas.
After Gulutzan and his staff left the locker room, the players held a meeting of their own behind doors that stayed closed for at least 10 minutes, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Benn told reporters that every player had to look at himself after an ugly night that he called unacceptable.
“I think it was just something that needed to happen for our group,” Benn said of the meeting.
Gulutzan said Dallas played one of its better first periods but changed its approach after Samberg’s goal, trying to win the goal back right away instead of staying patient. He also said the Stars made self-inflicted mistakes against a Winnipeg team whose power play and top players are executing at a high level.
Gulutzan said the right approach is to “stay with your game and keep building it back up.”
Lian Bichsel left in the first period with a lower-body injury after 2 shifts and 1:14 of ice time. Gulutzan said Bichsel will miss both games this weekend. Dallas played the rest of the night with 5 defensemen. Harley logged 26:27.
Miro Heiskanen missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury.
Dallas outshot Winnipeg 33-30 and won 35 of 56 faceoffs. The Stars went 0-for-2 on the power play. Winnipeg went 1-for-3.
The loss ended a four-game point streak for Dallas (10-6-2). Winnipeg (9-8-3) has won five straight.
The Stars host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday and the Florida Panthers on Sunday. Puck drop for both games at American Airlines Center is 7 p.m. CT.
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