Stars hang on to edge Golden Knights, extend point streak to 13

DALLAS -- Jake Oettinger made 26 saves, and the Dallas Stars hung on to extend their point streak to 13 games with a 2-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

“Playing patient, being back, trusting my reads and trusting the guys around me,” Oettinger said.  “I feel like when I’m patient and reading the game well, I’m a pretty good goalie. I feel like I did that tonight and hopefully I can just continue to do that, build on it, until the playoffs.” 

The Stars weathered a late third-period push from the Golden Knights with goalie Adin Hill pulled for the extra attacker after giving up game-tying goals at 6-on-5 in their previous two games against the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks.

“It’s important for their mindset [to hold the lead late] so it doesn’t grow into something bigger,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I thought the guys did a good job of packing it in, a little more blocking when we could. You don’t want those things to get out of control and then you’re talking about it them forever. It’s good that you can lock down leads, especially 6-on-5, because it can become something. I thought we were good in that area today. I thought we competed hard.”

Dallas is 12-0-1 in the streak, including a franchise-record 10-game winning streak that ended with a shootout loss to the Avalanche on Friday.

Jamie Benn and Oskar Back scored for Dallas (40-14-10), which is second in the Central Division, five points behind the Avalanche.

Jack Eichel scored and Hill made 14 saves for Vegas (29-22-14), which has lost six of seven. The Golden Knights are tied for second in the Pacific Division with the Edmonton Oilers, three points behind the Anaheim Ducks.

“They don’t quit. They go to the net. They finish at the net and they got the rebound [on the first goal],” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It was something we pointed out they’ve done well. I noticed Dallas getting a lot of goals from interior ice. So that’s one shame on us, but there was a lot of good there too. We didn’t execute offensively great tonight overall. Our play otherwise [was good]. Not enough action at the front of the net from low to high. We’ve got some offensive guys on the back end that can certainly give us more with their shots and getting through for rebounds and tips.”

Benn gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 14:16 of the second period when he batted in a Wyatt Johnston shot in the slot on the power play.

“We knew it was going to be tight with those guys there,” Benn said. “They’re a good hockey club and they play a solid game. I like how we stuck with it. It wasn’t pretty but we got two points. Just two good hockey clubs going at it. Pretty similar styles for the most part. They’ve got a lot of talent over there, but we believe in what we’re doing over here.”​

Eichel gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 1:31 in the second period on a shot from the top of the left face-off circle.

“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing. The last couple of games, defensively, I thought we were better,” Vegas defenseman Jeremy Lauzon said. “I feel our game is better. It’s tough right now, we’ve just got to keep our heads up. We’ve got a lot of games coming up and we’ve got to move forward here. Even tonight, I thought offensively we had a lot of energy.” 

Back tied it 1-1 at 10:41 when Colin Blackwell’s rebound ricocheted off of his stick at the top of the crease.

“A game like that is really fun,” Blackwell said. “It’s going to be like that every single night for the rest of the way. We’ve got a really tough schedule playing teams like that; big, heavy, physical. I was on the ground, so I didn’t really see it. I just saw it go into the back of the net; I didn’t know who scored it. It’s always nice when your line can get a goal and it’s been a couple of games in a row that, nobody who we’re playing with, we’ve been able to gel and play pretty well."

Said Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore: “I think just in front of the nets, there were little bounces like that that just weren’t going our way. We’re continuing to build our game and build off that, and hopefully the wins and the points will come. Every game, I think we’ve tightened up a lot of areas. We just need a couple of bounces here and there to start going our way.”

NOTES: Dallas has scored a power-play goal in 10 straight games. … The Stars’ streak is tied for the second-longest in franchise history (10-0-3 in 2000-01). Their longest is 15 games (12-0-3) in 1998-99. … Dallas is the third team in the NHL this season to have a 13-game point streak, alongside the Avalanche (17 games and 13 games) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (15 games).