RECAP: Bedard Forces Overtime Late, Blackhawks Fall to Stars

DALLAS -- Miro Heiskanen scored 22 seconds into overtime, and the Dallas Stars extended their point streak to 12 games with a 4-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at American Airlines Center on Sunday.

Heiskanen backhanded the puck into the net on the rush off a give-and-go feed from Matt Duchene.

The Stars recovered after Connor Bedard tied it 3-3 at 18:40 for Chicago. With Arvid Soderblom pulled for the extra attacker, Bedard’s shot through traffic deflected in off the leg of Dallas defenseman Tyler Myers.

“Unlucky one there, it went in off my shin pad. When things like that happen, you just come out the next shift and you start pushing again. Great to see that OT go so quick, too,” said Myers, who was making his Dallas debut after being traded to Dallas by the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. “The room is very positive. These guys have been through a lot together. Just want to come in and help as best I can. It was really fun playing in this building, the fans were a lot of fun.”

Mavrik Bourque had a goal and an assist, and Nathan Bastian and Justin Hryckowian also scored for Dallas (39-14-10), who are 11-0-1 in the past 12 games. Casey DeSmith made 16 saves.

“I think we have an older group, we’ve got to stay focused,” Bourque said. “They got a good shot from the blue line [to tie it]. We still know we can get those two points in overtime and that’s what we did. [Heck] of a play by [Duchene] and [Heiskanen] in overtime,” “They came out of the gate pretty good. They scored two early … two shots from the slot, one tip and one good shot, and we tied it up after that.”

The Stars had their franchise-record 10-game winning streak stopped on Friday in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

“We practiced yesterday. Hard, hard game on Friday too. There’s a lot of emotion in there, a lot of energy spent there, coming off of a road trip especially,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Just looking at it, there’s a few guys that I look at, and we looked a little bit tired. We played hard with good energy, but I just didn’t think we had the pop that we had [Friday]. We’ve been really good at just staying with it in these types of situations.” 

Tyler Bertuzzi and Sam Rinzel also scored for Chicago (23-29-11), who are 1-3-2 since the Olympic break. Soderblom made 27 saves, and Teuvo Teravainen and Frank Nazar each had two assists.

“I actually thought early in the game we were not dialed in defensively as we needed to be,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought we actually got better as the game went along in terms of the intensity and effort that you have to defend. So, when we go up 2-0 and lose [forward Oliver Moore to injury] it probably hurts the bench a little bit because you are also scarce on centers at that point, so you are in with 11 and you are light on centers a little bit. So, we had to juggle things a little bit. Again, there were moments in the game where we did some good stuff and moments where we are going to have to learn and grow. A big part of this group to grow is understanding that you have to defend in order to win in this league.”

Bertuzzi gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 6:59 in the first period when he tipped a point shot from Artyom Levshunov at the top of the crease.

“I think it was a good game. It was a tough loss, but we keep working as a group,” Levshunov said. “I feel better after the break, and I feel my game is better than it had been. I am focusing more on the defensive side, and working harder on being more physical, skating the puck, and protecting the puck with my body. I think those things are way better now and I am continuing to work on my game.”

Rinzel made it 2-0 at 8:41 on a shot from the inside edge of the right face-off circle.

Bastian cut it to 2-1 at 16:40 on a tip play in the high slot.

Bourque tied it 2-2 when his shot from the side of the net bounced off Nazar and through Soderblom’s five-hole just 42 seconds into the third period. Forward Michael Bunting, who was playing in his first game since being acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Thursday, got the assists after he forced a turnover below the goal line.

“I think we are definitely hounding a lot here,” Bunting said. “We had the same style in Nashville, but with the personnel here is a lot of fast and skilled players, and [they’re] always on top of it. We aren’t forcing a lot of pucks and turning it over, so I feel like we are playing with the puck a lot more here. That is the only difference I feel, but in Nashville I feel like we were playing the same way, so it has been a pretty easy adjustment of system-wise and whatnot. Just kind of hunt pucks, get them back and make some plays.”

Hryckowian gave Dallas a 3-2 lead at 9:40 on a rebound chance in the slot.

“They’re a good hockey team, obviously those are the games you want to win,” Rinzel said. “But yeah, I like how we got one in the end on the 5-on-6 there and kind of was able to battle back there after a little bend. I just think we want to get pucks in the net. You want to have numbers at the net. So, good shot by [Bedard] and some good screens by the other guys at the front there.”

NOTES: Moore left the game after being injured in a collision behind the net with Dallas forward Colin Blackwell in the first period. His long-term status was not known after the game, but Blashill ruled him out for Monday’s game against the Utah Mammoth. … The 12-game point streak matches the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. The last time they had a longer run was in 2000-01 (13 games).