Dickinson's winner lifts Stars past Bruins in OT

It was no work of art Friday night, but the result looked pretty good for the Dallas Stars. Ben Bishop stopped 23 shots and Jason Dickinson scored 1:34 into overtime as the Stars defeated the Boston Bruins, 1-0, at American Airlines Center.
"I think it was a big win. Sometimes it takes a little bit of extra time, but I thought we did a good job," said Bishop. "Obviously wanted to take care of home ice before we go on the road here, so it's a big win. Sometimes they're not all Picassos; they're always a little bit different."
Bishop made a huge save in the final minute of regulation to get the game to overtime, where Dickinson scored off the rebound of a Mattias Janmark shot on a 2-on-1 rush.

"It's exciting. I thought we played a really good game," Dickinson said. "There's moments in the game where we weren't so great. But, all in all, we played a really good game and to be able to cap that off with an overtime winner for me feels really good. I was just excited to get to the boys."
The Stars, who were missing four defensemen and had one making his NHL debut, and the Bruins, who were missing six defensemen and had two making their NHL debuts, got superb performances from their goaltenders. Bishop recorded his second shutout of the season for the Stars, and Tuukka Rask turned away 36 shots for Boston.
The game was chippy at times with 52 penalty minutes handed out, including nine roughing minors, and two fighting majors that went to Stars center Jason Spezza and Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton, who was playing in his first NHL game.
"We showed team toughness," said Stars center Radek Faksa. "We stick up for each other, and that's how a team should work."

Friday's win gave the Stars a 2-1-1 record on their four-game homestand and a 10-7-2 record overall.
The Bruins, who are in the middle of a four-game road trip, fell to 10-7-2 on the season.
"We didn't execute," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "We were a step behind. I think a lot of our top-end skill was tonight -- just a step behind for whatever reason."
There was no scoring in the first period, but the Stars had a couple of good chances. Tyler Pitlick tipped the puck through Rask's legs 49 seconds into the game, but Bruins defenseman Torey Krug stopped it from crossing the goal line. Faksa hit the post off a scramble in front of Rask late in frame.
The Stars had a couple of power-play chances in the second period, but they couldn't take advantage.
The Stars had a couple of more good chances in the third period. Rask made a nice glove save on Valeri Nichushkin's bid off the rush at the 1:45 mark. Rask made a big save on an Esa Lindell shot from the slot less than three minutes later.
Bishop came up huge with 34 seconds remaining, making a pad save on a David Pastrnak shot that deflected of Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen. That got the game to overtime where Dickinson won it for the Stars.

Turning point

The Stars got a big game out of Faksa, whose line took on Boston's top line of Brad Marchand, Patrick Bergeron, and David Pastrnak, one of the league's best and most productive trios.
Faksa's line did an excellent job of shutting down the Bergeron line, which was eventually split up because of Marchand taking 18 minutes in penalties, a lot of special teams play, and Bergeron missing some time in the game after a hit from Faksa. Even though those players were split up at times, each one of them saw a lot of Faksa and his linemates throughout the night.
"Faksa's had some really good games, but this might have been his best," said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. He was just really determined. He really embraced the challenge playing against Bergeron's line. He was physical and showed a lot of emotion. We hadn't seen that kind of emotion from him except maybe the Winnipeg game and that one fight he had at home."
In the 4:43 that Marchand, Bergeron, and Pastrnak played together as a line 5-on-5 in the game, they had no shot attempts.
"It's tough, for sure," Faksa said of playing against the Bergeron line. "It's one of the best lines in the league, and it's so hard to defend them, and I think we did a great job tonight. We stayed under their skin, and they got frustrated, and that's what we wanted so I think it was a great game for us."

Three stars of the game

Ben Bishop, Dallas:Stars goaltender stopped 23 shots for his second shutout of the season. Huge save in the final minute of regulation to get the game to overtime.
Tuukka Rask, Boston: Bruins goaltender stopped 36 of 37 shots to help the Bruins get one point in a game in which they were missing six defensemen.
Jason Dickinson, Dallas: Stars forward scores the game's only goal, notching his second overtime winner of the season.

They said it

"I thought, because of the effort we had, that we brought a lot of emotion into the game tonight. If you play the game the right way, you get rewarded, and we did get rewarded tonight. Something we've really improved upon this year is our commitment to playing through the game, no matter what the score is, and continuing to play hard in the third period. That escaped us early as three of the first ten games we lost was because of failures in the third period. That's an area of our game that has really improved." -- Stars coach Jim Montgomery
"[Jason Dickinson is] playing so well that I actually think I should have him playing more minutes. I'm trying to, but the balance right now of where he is as a center, sometimes the flow of the game, especially in the first period with all the situational stuff, hurts. He's someone that I really trust because he plays the right way. His details have been fantastic. His speed and his ability to drive the net on three-on-three situations gets us in a lot of advantages. He's done it twice now." -- Montgomery on Dickinson's performance
"It's a big win against a good team. It's a character win, and we'll take it, and obviously get ready for the next one. We have a lot of hockey coming up, so definitely a big win at home before we hit the road." - Stars goaltender Ben Bishop

Stat pack

What's next

The Stars hit the road for a three-game road trip heading into Thanksgiving. They'll take on the New York Islanders, New York Rangers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Stars lineup

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

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.