Harley scores in OT, Stars recover against Jets for 5th straight win

DALLAS -- Thomas Harley scored 2:05 into overtime for the Dallas Stars, who recovered for a 4-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets at American Airlines Center on Monday.

Harley finished on a forehand-to-backhand move in front off a pass from Matt Duchene.

“[Duchene] pulled up, two guys went with him,” Harley said. “Kind of filled the open space. It was a nice pass. Picked it up, looked it up, held off whoever was poke-checking and kind of moved to my backhand and try to elevate. OT is a little random. We won the draw tonight, the start of it was big. [Jake Oettinger] made a save when we needed him to, which is most of the time he does that, and then you’ve just got to bury your chances.”

Harley’s goal came after Logan Stanley tied it 3-3 with 1:43 remaining in the third period when his shot from the left face-off circle deflected off Mikko Rantanen’s stick with Connor Hellebuyck pulled for the extra attacker.

“They got a great team over there,” Stanley said. “It’s a game of inches and mistakes. We had chances all night. Their goalie played good, [Hellebuyck] played good. I think that’s close to how we have to play. I think in the second period we can clean some stuff up through the neutral zone but there was a lot of good in that game. That’s a top-three, top-five team in the League, so we’re right there. We just got to try to find a way to win.”

Rantanen had a goal and an assist, and Jason Robertson and Nils Lundkvist also scored for the Stars (33-14-9), who have won five straight and six of their past seven (6-1-0). Miro Heiskanen had two assists, and Oettinger made 24 saves.

"I think we want to take care of business before the long break,” Oettinger said. “They won the Presidents’ Trophy last year; they know how to win and score. Obviously, we would have liked to close it out there, but it's not always perfect. We got it done in overtime.”

Gabriel Vilardi and Cole Perfetti each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (22-25-8), who have lost four of six (2-2-2). Hellebuyck made 24 saves.

“That was a game that was winnable,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “Second period, we got up 2-1. You know, really, we got sloppy with and without the puck, especially through the neutral zone. But, at the end of the day, we hung in there and had a pretty good third period. I know they scored that goal, but we found a way to get ourselves back at the end, having a chance to try to get two points. And at the end of the day, you really hope to find a way to finish those off.”

Robertson scored on the power play to give Dallas a 1-0 lead 48 seconds into the second period when he redirected Rantanen’s centering pass in the slot.

“I think you can see that we've had meetings here about we lost a bit of our edge and our physicality over the last [stretch],” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We had it early and then when you get out to a good start and then after Christmas you think it's going to come easy, but that's not the way it works. We had to get that back and we've got it back in the last three games. It makes a difference in our play.”

Vilardi tied it 1-1 at 2:26 on a rebound in the slot, and Perfetti’s power-play goal gave the Jets a 2-1 lead at 3:58 on a shot from just outside the left circle.

“I think it was a fairly even game,” Winnipeg forward Adam Lowry said. “Chances at both ends of the rink. Both goalies made good saves, and then it gets down to 3-on-3, and kind of tough way to end it. I liked how we stayed in it. We're able to get one [point]. Obviously, two is super critical for us at this point, but to see them score, and us just get one late, at least salvage a point -- it's at least a small positive for us.”

Lundkvist tied it 2-2 at 15:13 on a rebound from the top of the crease.

Rantanen then put the Stars back ahead 3-2 at 12:17 of the third period when he dangled the puck around Jets defenseman Luke Schenn before backhanding it past the outstretched foot of Hellebuyck.

“Good play by [Justin Hryckowian] in the neutral zone to get it out of midair,” Rantanen said. “Tried to fake the shot to try to get the [defenseman] to bite, and he did, and then tried to beat him inside. Then I kind of lost it a little bit, so had to make a deke. Glad to see it go in and help the team.

“They’re big points. Colorado, Minnesota, they don’t lose a lot of games so we can’t lose either if we want to fight for that home ice in the first round. So it’s important to do things right.”

NOTES: It was Harley’s sixth career overtime goal, tying John Klingberg for the most by a Stars/North Stars defenseman in franchise history. … Oettinger, who is set to represent Team USA at the upcoming Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, became the seventh American goalie to record 10 career winning streaks of five games, joining Jonathan Quick (16), Tom Barrasso (12), Ryan Miller (11), Mike Richter (11), Frank Brimsek (11) and Ben Bishop (10).