5 takeaways: Wedgewood's debut turns into legendary performance

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Scott Wedgewood deserves all the stars of the game because he was simply that good in Dallas' 4-3 shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. He faced 47 shots and stopped 44 of them in his Stars debut. (More on his performance below).
At this stage of the season, two points are two points. You take wins any way they come. The Stars remain in the second wild card spot in the West and took down one of the top teams in the league.

Here are the five takeaways of the game:

WEDGE-WALL!

Wedgewood etched his name in Stars lore with a franchise-setting performance. His 44 saves were the most by a goalie making his debut in Minnesota/Dallas franchise history. He was also one save shy of tying his career high for saves in a game (45) set in his previous start on March 19 with Arizona. How about that?
From start to finish, the 29-year-old netminder kept the Stars alive. He robbed Sebastian Aho in the first period and again in overtime, and went 3-for-3 in the shootout.

A marvelous debut for the man known as "Wedgie."

HINTZ STAYS HOT

Roope Hintz did what Roope Hintz does best, and that's scoring goals. He came up clutch in the third period with two strikes, tying the score a minute after the Hurricanes went up 2-1 and 3-2, respectively.

Hintz now has six goals and seven points in his past four games and has 28 on the season.

STARS FIND A WAY

There's no question Wedgewood kept the Stars in the game, but as the saying goes, good teams find ways to win.
The Stars have been on the receiving end of this type of goaltending more than they'd prefer, but Thursday belonged to Wedgewood much like Feb. 15 belonged to Jake Oettinger (46 saves in a 4-1 win in Colorado).
They stayed alive just long enough to steal a shootout win in Carolina. They'll take it.

POWER PLAY GOES DRY

The Stars had their opportunities early in the game to take the lead but came up empty on two power plays. Then they had 35 seconds of power-play time to close out overtime but couldn't convert.
In the end, they still got the win, but capitalizing with the man advantage would've been nice.

STAYING IN A PLAYOFF SPOT

With the win, the Stars remain in the second wild card spot with four games in hand on Vegas.
The Stars responded by winning three in a row after losing three in a row. They've got a home game against the surging Canucks on Saturday before embarking on a four-game road trip to the West Coast beginning Tuesday in Anaheim.
Don't miss the Stars as they return home to host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday at 6 p.m. 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.