Lindell lifts Stars past Kings in OT

The Dallas Stars went into the NHL's holiday break with a big win over the Los Angeles Kings Friday, and they did it in overtime. Esa Lindell scored 1:07 into the extra period to give the Stars a 3-2 win at American Airlines Center. It was just the second win in nine overtime games for Dallas this season.
"It was really big, especially when we get it in overtime," Lindell said. "We have been struggling with it."
Lindell took a pass from Stars captain Jamie Benn on a two-on-one rush and scored from just below the left circle.
"Saw they were changing one guy and saw the opportunity to get a 2-on-1," Lindell said. "That was pretty easy to put in from that pass."
Said Benn: "I was thinking shoot almost the whole way down the ice. It was kind of hard not to pass it to him there. He worked so hard to get up the ice and made a good play in the D Zone, and he was wide open, so I had to make the pass."
With Friday's win, the Stars picked up seven of a possible ten points on their five-game homestand by going 3-1-1. They are 14-14-7 on the season and sit three points out of a playoff spot as they head into the break.
"It's real good [to go into the break on the win]," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "We get a three-day break, and we had something good happen by winning a game in overtime. It was a hard game. We said this morning that she'd be a hard game, and it was a hard game."

Tyler Seguin and Radek Faksa scored in regulation for the Stars. Kari Lehtonen, making his first start since Dec. 11, stopped 29 of 31 shots, including all 16 he faced in the second period.
"It was nice to get back in there and perform well and help the team," Lehtonen said. "It was a little longer break than normal, but I felt alright. It took a little time to get comfortable, but once I did it felt like I hadn't missed that much time. Then it was fun."
Jeff Carter scored both goals for the Kings, who fell to 17-13-4 on the season. The Kings went 3-2-2 on a seven-game road trip heading into the break.
"We had a great trip," said Kings coach Darryl Sutter. "We visited seven states, visited another one tonight, a couple days in California, and we went to a couple of provinces."
The Kings went on the game's first power play 2:11 into the first period and scored to take a 1-0 lead when Jeff Carter tallied off the rebound of a Tanner Pearson shot at the 3:05 mark.
Benn came close to tying it less than a minute later, but his shot from the top of the left circle hit the post. The Stars did tie the game 43 seconds into the second period when Jason Spezza set up Seguin on the rush and Seguin buried a shot from the bottom of the right circle.
Faksa put the Stars ahead 2-1 at the 3:30 mark of the third. After Kings goaltender Jeff Zatkoff made a nice save on a close-range bid by Faksa, the Stars center put home the rebound.
One minute later, Zatkoff made a sprawling save on a Spezza shot from the slot to keep it a 2-1 game and the Kings tied it 2-2 at the 10:51 mark. Devin Setoguchi put a shot on net off the rush, and Carter scored off the rebound.
It stayed 2-2 until overtime, where Lindell scored to send the Stars into the NHL's holiday break on a winning note.
"You always want to win the last game going into any break," Benn said. "And that was a tough game tonight. That's a really good team over there, and we stuck it out right to the end. And Esa found a way to put that one home."
Notes: OT adjustments
\Stars coach Lindy Ruff has usually started overtime with Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and John Klingberg. Friday night he started with Radek Faksa, Esa Lindell, and Klingberg. Once Faksa won the opening faceoff, Lindell went off the ice and Jason Spezza jumped on.
"It hasn't been working the way we've been trying it, so we have talked about some different pairs and putting our best faceoff guy, whoever that is against theirs," Ruff said. "So, Faksa was the best guy against [Anze] Kopitar, so we had him take the draw to try to get possession. If we lost it, we had the two D-men to defend better, and if we won it, the idea was to get one of the defensemen off and have two forwards out there. So, we have to change direction for the way we are going. Tonight it worked."
\The Stars are 2-7 in three-on-three overtime this season.
\Both teams had 31 shots on goal. The Kings had a 64-57 advantage in shot attempts.
\Tyler Seguin led the Stars with 5 shots on goal. Jason Spezza was tops with 9 shot attempts.
\The Stars were 0-3 on the power play and 2-3 on the penalty kill.
\Dallas won 34 of 57 faceoffs (60 percent). Radek Faksa won 15 of 20 faceoffs (75 percent).
\Jordie Benn had a game-high 6 blocked shots.
\John Klingberg led the Stars with 24:59 of ice time. Jamie Benn was next with 24:51, a season-high for the Dallas captain.
What's Next
The Stars and the rest of the NHL are on a holiday break from Dec. 24-26. The next game for the Stars is Dec. 27 at Arizona. The next home game for the Stars is Dec. 29 vs. Colorado.
Stars lineup
Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Jason Spezza
Curtis McKenzie - Radek Faksa - Brett Ritchie
Lauri Korpikoski - Devin Shore - Patrick Eaves
Jiri Hudler - Adam Cracknell
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Jamie Oleksiak/Patrik Nemeth
Johnny Oduya - Jordie Benn
Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi
Scratched: None
Suspended: Cody Eakin
Injured: Antoine Roussel (upper body), Stephen Johns (lower body), Patrick Sharp (concussion), Mattias Janmark (knee), Ales Hemsky (hip)
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.