Recap: Pavelski scores twice to give Stars a 4-2 win, 2-1 series lead

DALLAS --How many more seasons Joe Pavelski has left in his career remains to be seen, but what Stars fans are witnessing is something special.
Led by a two-goal performance from the 37-year-old and a 39-save effort from 23-year-old goaltender Jake Oettinger, the Stars defeated the Calgary Flames 4-2 in front of a deafening sold-out crowd of 18,532 at American Airlines Center on Saturday. With the win, the Stars have taken a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series.

Pavelski was a difference maker on both of his goals and moved up the all-time charts in the process.
With the Stars trailing 2-1, he pounced on a rebound off a point shot from Miro Heiskanen and got his shot past Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom with under eight minutes remaining in the second period.

Then, with the score tied 2-2 with 10 minutes left in the third, Pavelski delivered again. Crashing the net, he buried Vladislav Namestnikov's rebound chance to give the Stars a 3-2 lead.

With the goal, Pavelski (64 goals, 58 assists, 122 points) tied Jeremy Roenick for the fifth-most postseason points by a U.S.-born player.
At 37 years, 300 days, Pavelski became the third-oldest player in Stars/North Stars history to record a multi-goal game in the playoffs, behind Dean Prentice (39 years, 183 days in 1972) and Doug Mohns (37 years, 123 days in 1971).
Furthermore, Pavelski became the first player on any team to record a multi-goal game in the playoffs at age 37 or older since his longtime former Sharks teammate, Joe Thornton, did so at age 39 in 2019.
At the other end of the ice, Oettinger was nearly unstoppable again.
Of his 39 saves, none were bigger than his breakaway stop on Johnny Gaudreau with 3:30 remaining in a 3-2 game. Gaudreau, who ranked tied for second in the NHL with 115 points during the regular season, has yet to score in this series and has two points in three games.
It's the latest chapter in Oettinger's rise to stardom. Fans at the end of the game were chanting "Otter! Otter!" as the clock wound down.
Rounding out the scoring for the Stars were Radek Faksa and Roope Hintz. Faksa got the Stars on the board at the 8:21 mark of the first period when he got a piece of Esa Lindell's point shot for his seventh career postseason goal. Hintz scored an empty netter with one second left on the clock to give Dallas a 4-2 lead.

Not only did the Stars' offense come to life, so did their physicality.
The Stars had a decisive edge in that area of the game, finishing the game with 44 hits, led by their captain, Jamie Benn, who had six.
The Stars will look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in Game 4 at American Airlines Center on Monday.
Great seats still remain for Game 4 on Monday at 8:30 p.m. CT. Get your tickets now!
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.