Seguin scores twice late to lead Stars past Coyotes, 5-4

The Dallas Stars made it three wins in a row, outlasting the Arizona Coyotes, 5-4, at Gila River Arena on Thursday night. Tyler Seguin scored two goals, including the game-winner, and Jamie Benn chipped in one goal and two assists.

"I really like the way our big boys played," said Stars coach Ken Hitchcock. "They carried the day, and that's what you need if you are going to win on the road. [Ben] Bishop was good in goal. [John] Klingberg was good on the backend. And, obviously, Seguin's line was outstanding."
The top line of Benn, Seguin, and Alexander Radulov came up big in the third period when the game was on the line and factored in all three goals in the period for the Stars who won on the road for the first time this season and swept a home-and-home series with the Coyotes.
"They are our top guns, and they are top guns for a reason," said Stars defenseman Stephen Johns. "They are proven veterans, and we lean on them to score big goals and tonight they did."
The Stars got a big game out of Bishop, who made 27 saves, including some great ones on high-quality chances by the Coyotes. Johns and Radek Faksa were the other goal scorers for the Stars, and Klingberg chipped in two assists.

"We found a way to win tonight," said Johns. "We didn't play our best hockey, and they were a hungry team. It's always hard to win on the road. At the end of the day, a win is a win, and it's a big two points for us."
Derek Stepan and Clayton Keller both scored twice for the Coyotes who remained winless and fell to 0-6-1 on the season.
"It wasn't enough," said Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet. "I thought we played well enough to win. A couple of tough luck goals. The guys played hard. I asked all week for them to keep their energy and practice hard and they did. Other than the results these guys played hard tonight. The Seguin line was a killer, those guys are talented guys. They are elite players. Our top line produced for us."
There were three goals scored in the first period, and they all came in a span of 74 seconds. Stepan opened the scoring at the 5:50 mark, tipping in an Oliver Ekman-Larsson point shot to give the Coyote a 1-0 lead.
The Stars answered 33 seconds later on the power play when a wide-open Benn made a slick move and slipped the puck past Hill from close range to tie the game at the 6:23 mark.

The Stars took the lead 41 seconds later when Faksa tipped Tyler Pitlick's centering pass, and Coyotes defenseman Luke Schenn accidentally redirected the rebound into his own net, and the Stars had a 2-1 lead at 7:04 of the first.
Arizona drew even on Stepan's second goal of the game. After Jason Demers put a shot on goal, Stepan scored on the rebound to tie the game 2-2 at 2:47 of the second period. Stepan had a great chance to put Arizona ahead late in the second, but Bishop made a slick poke check to deny the Arizona forward a quality chance from close range.
"He's doing his job and beyond," Seguin said of Bishop. "We have the utmost confidence with him out there; he's been great."
Seguin and his line came were great in the third period. A great shift by the top line early in the period ended with Johns scoring off a blast from the right circle at the 3:10 mark.
Bishop came up with a big save 45 seconds later to keep the Stars up one goal. After Max Domi stole the puck from Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, he broke in all alone on net but his breakaway bid was turned away by Bishop.

But less than three minutes later the Coyotes tied the game. Keller blocked a shot by Oleksiak, broke in alone on goal and beat Bishop with a wrist shot to tie the game, 3-3, at the 6:41 mark.
The top line of Dallas struck less than two minutes later. Benn's shot from the slot rattled off the crossbar, and Seguin put the rebound past Coyotes goaltender Adin Hill and the Stars were up 4-3 at the 8:20 mark.
The Stars extended the lead to 5-3 at the 17:06 mark when Benn set up Seguin on the rush and Seguin scored off a blast from the right circle.
Arizona made it interesting in the final minute when Keller scored with 21.2 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 5-4, and then the Coyotes got a good look in the final seconds with a chance to tie, but a Christian Dvorak redirection attempt went wide.
"A road game and we got two points, that's how we are leaving here," said Seguin. "We knew it was going to be greasy in the early road games in this league to start the season. Sloppy game at times, but we found a way to win so we'll take it."

Notes

What's Next

The Stars return home to take on the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday at American Airlines Center. The Hurricanes (3-1-1) are coming off a 2-1 win in Calgary Thursday. Following Saturday, the Stars head out for a five-game road trip.

Stars Lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov
Devin Shore - Mattias Janmark - Jason Spezza
Remi Elie - Martin Hanzal - Brett Ritchie
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Marc Methot - Jamie Oleksiak
Dan Hamhuis - Stephen Johns
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Scratched: Julius Honka, Greg Pateryn, Gemel Smith
Injured:None
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.