Tyler Seguin shoots Stars past Avalanche

DALLAS -- Tyler Seguin had two goals and an assist to lift the Dallas Stars to a 4-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at American Airlines Center on Thursday.
Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak scored the game-winning goal early in the second period for the Stars (16-14-7), who have won three games in a row for the first time this season and are 4-0-1 in their past five.
"We're just trying to play better hockey and play the way we know we can," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "Winning is a lot of fun, so we're trying to get this going."

WATCH: All Avalanche vs. Stars highlights
Dallas starting goalie Kari Lehtonen made 13 saves on 14 shots before leaving the game at 4:56 of the third period following a collision with Colorado forward Jarome Iginla, who was called for goaltender interference. Antti Niemi made four saves on five shots in relief.
Devin Shore scored his sixth goal to give the Stars a 1-0 lead at 5:11 of the first period when he went to the net and finished off a pass from Lauri Korpikoski.
Seguin gave Dallas a 2-0 lead at 11:26 of the period after some sharp puck movement by Jason Spezza and Benn. Spezza passed the puck into the slot for Benn, who made a backhand pass to Seguin for a one-timer past goalie Calvin Pickard.
Matt Duchene got his 400th NHL point when he scored to pull the Avalanche to within 2-1 at 15:48 of the first. Lehtonen made the initial save on Duchene with his left pad but couldn't corral the rebound as he slid out of the crease, and Duchene put the puck into an empty net.

"Offensively, he's been a really consistent player in this league," Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said of Duchene. "Good to see him get that one."
Oleksiak gave Dallas a 3-1 lead at 4:52 of the second period when he beat Pickard with a wrist shot.
"Their guys were getting a little scrambly there, and I saw an opportunity to jump low," Oleksiak said. "I was actually just trying to look pass but decided to take my chance with a shot, and it worked out."
Mikhail Grigorenko scored on a rebound at 7:27 of the third period to cut the Dallas lead to 3-2. It was the second shot Niemi faced after he entered the game.
Seguin scored into the empty net with 26 seconds remaining to make it 4-2.
Pickard made 30 saves.

Goal of the game

Oleksiak beat Pickard high to the short side with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle for his fourth of the season, and it proved to be the game-winning goal.

Save of the game

Pickard made a toe save on Stars forward Cody Eakin with 3:55 remaining to keep the Avalanche within a goal at 3-2.

Highlight of the game

Seguin's first-period goal came on a pretty passing play with Benn and Spezza. The three have had chemistry since being reunited as the Stars' top line.

Unsung performance of the game

Niemi entered the game cold when Lehtonen left to go through concussion protocol. Niemi allowed one goal but preserved the win.
"You don't really have much time (to think) in that spot, in a tight game," Niemi said. "You just focus on the next puck."

They said it

"I think we've played pretty sound hockey for a good period of time. Couple disappointing losses inside of that. But we're getting more and more guys on the scoreboard. Our key guys, our big guys are scoring. We said when they score, there is a good chance of winning." -- Stars coach Lindy Ruff
"When the going's gotten tough, our guys have been digging in here lately. We're trying to stay positive with our guys. We want our guys to stay positive, be good teammates to each other, control our work ethic and our attention to detail and discipline as well, so those things we control. Regardless of what our record is and what the score is, that'll be our message moving forward all season. We just got to keep going, keep digging in, and try to win some hockey games." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar

Need to know

Ruff said Lehtonen was OK after going through the League-mandated concussion protocol. … Eakin returned from his four-game suspension for charging New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist on Dec. 15. … Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov didn't make the trip to Dallas and was getting his injured groin re-evaluated.

What's next

Avalanche: Host the New York Rangers on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ALT, MSG 2, NHL.TV)
Stars:Host the Florida Panthers on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-SW, FS-F, NHL.TV)