Meier extends goal streak, Sharks edge Stars to end five-game skid

DALLAS -- Timo Meier scored in his fifth straight game, and the San Jose Sharks ended a five-game skid with a 5-4 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Friday.

Alexander Barabanov, Logan Couture, and Tomas Hertl each had a goal and an assist, and James Reimer made 25 saves for San Jose (4-9-3), which went 0-2-3 over its previous five games.
"I think we're slowly learning what it takes to win hockey games," Sharks coach David Quinn said. "I thought our breakouts were clean; I thought we caused a lot of turnovers. We went hard to the net in the [offensive] zone.
"There were a lot of good things in our game, and we took a step forward in learning how to win a game. It's going to take a little time, we're still fragile from the last two weeks and the losing we've done, and the way we've done it. But we took a step forward tonight."
Jamie Benn scored twice, and Roope Hintz scored for the Stars (8-4-1). Jake Oettinger made 13 saves in his return from a lower-body injury sustained against the New York Islanders on Oct. 29.
"They only had 20 shots," Oettinger said. "We scored four goals, and when you score four goals, you expect to win. I definitely could have made another save or two and at least helped us get to overtime. I know I have [to be] better, and just [have] to do it next game."

Benn gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 4:42 of the first period on a 2-on-1, but Barabanov tied it 1-1 at 6:13 on the power play when he pounced on a rebound from the slot.
Evgeny Svechnikov gave the Stars a 2-1 lead at 12:18 when he found a loose puck in the slot while driving the net and scored five-hole on Oettinger.
"We have to be sharper, we have to play harder and win more battles," Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen said. "I think everything else will come when we play harder and give everything. We didn't help [Oettinger] enough in this game. I think he played well, but we need to play better in front of him."
Benn tied it 2-2 at 19:39 after Ty Dellandrea forced a turnover in the offensive zone in the slot. Benn was the trailing forward and shot the puck through the screen created by Dellandrea.
Meier gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead 29 seconds into the second period following a turnover by Hintz in the defensive zone. Couture took advantage of another turnover, this one by Heiskanen at the Stars blue line, to make it 4-2 at 1:05.
"Regardless of what the shot clock said, I thought we just handed them three or four goals," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. "Just mistakes or mismanagement, missed assignments. You're going to hand another team three or four goals, you're going to be in a game like that. That's what it looks like."
Hertl scored to make it 5-2 on a backhand shot 29 seconds into the third period.

Hintz cut it to 5-3 at 6:18 when his shot rang off the far post and in, extending his point streak to six games. Dallas forward Jason Robertson extended his point streak to seven games with an assist.
Joe Pavelski scored at 12:06 when he capitalized on the rebound of Robertson's shot for the 5-4 final.
"It feels good to win a game," Meier said. "We've been close a lot of times, lost a lot of close games. We weren't able to close them out. Today, we got the job done. I think that definitely helps your confidence and we'll definitely take that feeling.
"We all love winning, and it's frustrating when you lose that many games like we have. We want to get more of that winning feeling, and we've got to continue like that."
NOTES: Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson's six-game point streak ended. ... The Sharks earned their second regulation win of the season and Quinn's 100th NHL victory. ... Robertson's six-game goal streak came to an end.