Wild surge past Stars with third-period rally

The return home didn't help the Dallas Stars get back on track. The Stars' losing streak hit three games as they fell, 3-1, to the Minnesota Wild Friday night at American Airlines Center.
The Stars played well for most of the game, dominated the second period, and then grabbed a 1-0 lead early in the third period on Jason Spezza's first goal of the season, but after that it was all Minnesota, which dominated the rest of the period and rallied for the victory.
"I really liked the way we played until the goal. After the goal, we stopped playing," said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. "Our puck pressure disappeared, and our game management disappeared. It's frustrating for everybody, but we've got to keep getting better. And that's the bottom line."

The Stars, who fell to 3-4-0 on the season, have scored just two goals during their three-game skid.
"I think we are creating a lot, we just got to bear down in front of the net, and that's something we've really worked on. I think there were glimpses of it, creating more traffic, getting hungrier. It's kind of frustrating when you're trying to do the right things and not seeing the results, but there's no time to feel sorry or get rattled by it, you just got to stick with it."
Ben Bishop got the start in goal for the Stars Friday and was solid, stopping 33 of 35 shots.

Devan Dubnyk came up huge for the Wild in turning away 33 of 34 shots, and Ryan Sutter tallied one goal and one assist for the Wild who improved to 3-2-2 on the season.
"It's nice when [Dubnyk] bails you out," Suter said. "It's important, and he did it a few times for us tonight."
The Wild had an 8-6 shots advantage in the first period, and both teams had one chance on the power play in a scoreless and fairly uneventful first period.
The Stars were all over the Wild in the second period, had 24 shots on goal, but couldn't get anything past Dubnyk. The Wild netminder came up with three great stops with the Stars on their third power play of the game, turning away quality looks for Jamie Benn, John Klingberg, and Tyler Pitlick in a span of 16 seconds. Less than two minutes later, with the two teams back at even strength, Dubnyk stopped Mattias Janmark on a two-on-one rush.
The Stars finally broke through 36 seconds into the third period when Spezza tipped in a Miro Heiskanen shot from the point to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. But the Wild dominated the rest of the period, outshooting the Stars 15-2 over the final 19:24 and scoring three times. Matt Dumba scored off a rebound to tie the game at the 9:37 mark and then Suter gave the Wild a 2-1 lead at 12:54 of the third, shooting from behind the goal line and banking the puck into the net off Stars defenseman Esa Lindell.
Zach Parise sealed the win with an empty-net goal with one minute remaining.

Turning point

The Stars dominated the second period and then finally snapped a 0-0 tie with Jason Spezza's goal 36 seconds into the third period. You would have thought the game would have tilted the Stars' way. It didn't. Minnesota took over, controlled play the rest of the third period, outshot the Stars 15-2 and scored three times, including an empty-netter, to win the game.

Players of the game

Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota:The Wild goaltender stopped 33 shots including all 24 he faced in the second period.
Ryan Suter, Minnesota:The Wild defenseman tallied the game-winning goal, picked up one assist, had a plus-three rating and blocked five shots in 24:07 of ice time.
Ben Bishop, Dallas: The Stars goalie stopped 33 of 35 shots and gave his team a chance to win.
Jason Spezza, Dallas: The Stars center has been playing well lately and getting some good chances. He finally got rewarded with a goal, a nifty tip of a Miro Heiskanen shot from the point.

They said it

"I thought we did a pretty good job there in the second obviously taking it to them and getting the goal early in the third. We took our foot off the gas there for a little bit, and they got a lucky break off our guy, and that ended up being the difference." -- Stars goaltender Ben Bishop on Minnesota's third-period push
"It's obviously frustrating because we have generated a lot of chances. And then stuff like their second goal tonight goes off our guy and goes in. That's what happens when you let a team hang around. We controlled play, and we just didn't play good for an eight to 10-minute period, and we lose the game because of it. Yeah, it's frustrating. There's no doubt about it. I feel like this one slipped away."-- Stars center Jason Spezza on the Stars struggling to score the last three games
"Hockey's a funny game. When they scored their goal, it looked like we put it into another gear to me. And we didn't give them anything after that. The second period, if it wasn't for [Dubnyk], they could've had five. I guess that's hockey. But I was really impressed." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Medical matters

Stars forward Alexander Radulov missed Friday's game with a lower-body injury that he suffered in Tuesday's game in New Jersey. Radulov tested the injury in Friday's morning skate, but left early and was unable to go.
Stars forward Valeri Nichushkin missed a second straight game due to soreness.

Stat pack

What's next

The Stars play Game 2 of the homestand Tuesday when they take on the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings, who host Buffalo on Saturday, have lost three straight games by a combined score of 16-4.

Stars lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Roope Hintz
Devin Shore - Jason Spezza - Tyler Pitlick
Mattias Janmark - Radek Faksa - Blake Comeau
Gemel Smith - Jason Dickinson - Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Marc Methot - Miro Heiskanen
Julius Honka - Roman Polak
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Connor Carrick Injured: Alexander Radulov (lower body), Valeri Nichushkin (soreness), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches), Martin Hanzal (back)

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.