Duchene gets 3 points, Stars ease past Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Matt Duchene had two goals and an assist to lift the Dallas Stars to an 8-3 victory against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday.

Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston and Thomas Harley each had a goal and an assist for the Stars (35-18-2), who had lost two in a row (0-1-1). Mikael Granlund, who will represent Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off, had two assists in his first game against San Jose after he was traded from the Sharks to the Stars on Feb. 1. Casey DeSmith made 24 saves.

"Tough start. I liked our composure, though. We stuck with it and there was no panic and it didn't take us long. By the end of the first, we're right back in it," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "We've got a good, mature group that way. Not everything goes the way you want it to go all the time, but we handled that adversity really well."

William Eklund, Fabian Zetterlund and Walker Duehr scored for the Sharks (15-35-7), who have lost four in a row (0-3-1) and are 1-9-1 in their past 11. Vitek Vanecek made 26 saves.

"[We] stopped competing and puck play was a big issue," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "[It is] really frustrating, especially getting a lead like that."

Eklund put the Sharks ahead 1-0 at 1:25 of the first period. Macklin Celebrini put a backhanded pass from the right corner to the front of the net that Eklund chipped over DeSmith’s blocker.

Zetterlund pushed the lead to 2-0 at 2:46. Andrew Poturalski fed Will Smith in the slot, and he found Zetterlund to the right of the net for a backhanded finish. Duchene found a loose puck in the slot and chipped a shot over Vanecek’s blocker to cut the Sharks lead to 2-1 just 16 seconds later.

"The game's funny, right," Duchene said. "You go through stretches where you're doing the same thing and it doesn't go, and of all sudden, you take a shot, it hits a guy in the arm and goes in."

Jason Robertson tied it 2-2 at 10:08 when he tapped in the rebound of Mathew Dumba’s shot from the right point.

Marchment gave the Stars their first lead, poking in a loose puck at the left post to make it 3-2 at 13:24.

"[We] stopped playing. I feel like we didn't play our best," Eklund said. "We played their game, and we know we're not skilled enough to play their game right now. We got to stick to our game."

Duchene tipped in Harley’s point shot on the power play to make it 4-2 at 7:30 of the second.

"This team stays even keel really well, whether we're up or down," Duchene said. "We did a good job of that tonight."

Mavrik Bourque made it 5-2 at 15:42, taking a drop pass from Benn at the top of the right circle and firing a wrist shot past Vanecek’s blocker.

Johnston skated to the front of the net and redirected a centering pass from Oskar Bäck along the left boards to make it 6-2 at 11:20 of the third.

Harley beat Vanecek with a wrist shot over the blocker to make it 7-2 at 12:33.

Duer tapped in a goal to the right of DeSmith 27 seconds later to make it 7-3.

Benn scored on a breakaway with a shot under Vanecek glove for the 8-3 final at 13:37.

"Just sticking with our game plan, playing good defense. That's what helps us create offense and helps us win games," Benn said. "When we're good in the D-zone and taking care of the details, good things happen."

NOTES: The Stars have 15 comeback wins in 2024-25, trailing only the Washington Capitals (18), Winnipeg Jets (17), Carolina Hurricanes (17), Vegas Golden Knights (17) and Colorado Avalanche (16). … The Stars had 15 players record a point in the same game for the ninth time in franchise history and fifth time since relocating to Dallas in 1993-94. … Celebrini recorded his 40th point of the 2024-25 season (17 goals, 23 assists) in 45 games, passing Rob Gaudreau (55 games in 1992-93) to become the quickest to reach the mark by a rookie in Sharks history.