Mantha, Red Wings take down Stars 4-3

Anthony Mantha #39 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates his hat-trick goal in the third period with teammates Tyler Bertuzzi #59, Patrik Nemeth #22 and Dylan Larkin #71 during an NHL, home opening night game against the Dallas Stars at Little Caesars Arena on October 6, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

Anthony Mantha single-handedly got his team the victory at Little Caesars Arena Sunday night. The right-winger recorded a natural hat trick and added another for good measure that gave the Detroit Red Wings a 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars in their home opener. It was the first time a player scored four goals on opening night since John Sorrell on Nov. 12, 1933

Saturday’s big win on the road against Nashville showed that a late rush can energize the team to function on both sides of the puck. While they returned for the home opener with a lack of sleep, the excitement to have their fans in support stood out essential against the Stars. Dallas’ recent defeats against the 2019 Stanley Cup finalists left them hungry to get a win in their third outing.

Through the first ten minutes, both teams were slow to produce good opportunities on opposing nets. Dallas awarded Detroit a 5 on 4 opportunity but their chance went silent unable to record a shot on goal. With nine minutes left in the period, the first strike came at the hands of Dallas who saw Roope Hintz wrist the puck in front of the blue line for his second of the season. Detroit picked up the pace on shots to goaltender Nikolai Khudobin but the Stars were back at in front of Jonathan Bernier looking to increase their lead.

Tyler Seguin made it happen at 16:48 threading through the Detroit defense before shooting above the glove of Bernier hitting the top shelf for his first. The damage had been done leaving Detroit with a late power play in the final seconds but the man advantage didn’t help them change the tide in the first period.

In the continuance of it going into the second period, the Red Wings made their offensive strength known in the Dallas zone. Possession and control were the keys to giving them a goal as the multi-pass play ended with Mantha scoring his second of the season. Dallas went on the power play at 2:15 but gained nothing against a strong Detroit penalty kill that soon had them back on the man advantage.

While it didn’t help with evening the score, the Red Wings found second gear and took their chances at the Dallas net. Near the midway point of the game, Mantha again found his moment curving toward Khudobin getting the netminder out of the way for the tie. It became his 12^th career multi-goal game and one short of a hat trick. A chance to take the lead came on a fourth power play but the Dallas PK knew that they couldn’t let any more pucks get through.

As the penalty expired they suffered yet another one that put the Red Wings back on the man advantage with seven minutes to go. It didn’t bring the result they wanted but with puck possession stronger on their end, the Red Wings were running on the right path. The spent the remaining minutes blasting ten shots at Khudobin getting very close at times but was saved by the period coming to a close.

When the third got underway, Mantha secured the natural hat trick just 15 seconds into the action. A shot from Dylan Larkin to the net got to stick of the 25-year-old who found the open net to give Detroit the 3-2 lead. It appeared that he was not the only one inspired to do work for his team as Dallas evened back up at three-all. Hintz scored his second of the night on a loose puck 33 seconds later getting it behind Bernier who left the net exposed.

With the score locked, both teams played evening against one another until another break for Detroit arrived 6:36 on a tripping call to Joe Pavelski. They soon had a short 5 on 3 that saw Mantha nearly record his fourth. His scoring chance with open ice came on a wrister that was robbed on a beautiful glove save. Just when Khudobin had some relief coming his way, another Dallas penalty for goaltender interference kept things status quo for a little longer. Dallas got through with the entirety of Detroit’s man-advantage returning to full strength with eight minutes left in regulation.

With two minutes to go, the fight was on to make the score the game-winning goal between the team. Detroit had full coverage of time with the puck and with under a minute to go, Mantha made his mark even deeper. A great drive from the slot gave the forward his fourth of the night. “It’s a faceoff play we practiced,” Mantha said to Mickey Redmond of Fox Sports Detroit. “Bert came to help with my defense and I opened up for a one-timer and it bounced off a defenseman’s stick.” Sitting just a goal back, the Stars chose to take Khudobin out for the extra man.

Dallas went all in taking every conceivable shot with Alexander Radulov nearly sending the game to overtime but was stopped by Bernier who did tremendous work to stop it under the left pad. With 2.7 seconds left, the Red Wings won the last faceoff and got the horn to gain a second straight win.

With a historic moment for Mantha, he became the first player since Johan Franzen in Ottawa where he scored four back on Feb. 2, 2011. With the most positive start since their last playoff run, the Red Wings would try to keep up the momentum as they host the Ducks on Tuesday.