Stars outshine Red Wings

Denis Gurianov #34, Andrew Cogliano #11 and the Dallas Stars celebrate a goal against the Detroit Red Wings at the American Airlines Center on January 28, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Dallas Stars made the Red Wings pay dearly for their mistakes at American Airlines Arena Thursday night. A battle through most of the game turned into a slaughter as the Stars ran away with a 7-3 win. 

Detroit vied for success at the tail end of their road trip facing Dallas for one more. Their loss Tuesday in overtime remained sour aside from gaining a point. Their 2-4-1 record was not yet showing strength as a few of Detroit’s best stayed quiet on the offense. Anthony Mantha was the most hungry on the ice, taking shots since the season began without a goal. Dallas hadn’t lost a game in three matches and hold the best record on the powerplay in the NHL. With a new goaltender making his debut for the Stars, Detroit had to find goals coming from their best in the lineup to make the statement. 

Dallas responded quickly from the opening faceoff, taking their shots on Jonathan Bernier who stood in net for Detroit. For the first half of the period, they gave it all in the Detroit zone with the Red Wings struggling to get at Stars netminder Jake Oettinger. They were stopped with a penalty going against them, adding fuel to the fire for Dallas. They went heavily in the Detroit end but the PK did enough to clear out the puck, kill time, and the two-minute advantage. 

When even-strength came back into action, the Stars used more physical strength to fight for control of the puck. At 11:36, Tanner Kero made a block near the boards and skated away with the ice, heading towards Bernier. He suddenly made a quick pass to Joe Pavelski, who one-timed the puck behind the Red Wings goalie to strike his fourth of the season. It was a big mistake for Detroit but they caught a break with a power play in their favor. 

Detroit negated the precious time with a penalty from their end in return but gained another chance to make up for lost chances. Nothing came of it as the Dallas PK worked through the time down a man and brought things back to five on five play. Detroit was awarded another power play with 14 seconds left and finished the first-period silent. They were outshot 11-5 and had only one scoring chance to Dallas’s five which produced the opening lead. 

 Nothing came of the remaining time Detroit had on the power play but were given another chance to make something happen. It was their second full power play against the Stars but despite trying to get a shot to go through, none got in the back of the net. The Stars forecheck and added pressure gave the team another leg up on the score. A loose puck that got away from Bernier to his left allowed Andrew Cogliano to earn credit for his first goal. 

 Dallas had half the game under their control with Detroit having fired two shots through the midway point of the second. Mantha found a point to make something happen for himself but came up short on a drive. Detroit still held onto possession until a drive from the blue line by Troy Stetcher. His shot was blocked with Mantha getting another try. When his opportunity got blocked, it came to Valtteri Filppula who had an open window, scoring his first of the season while getting Detroit into the game. 

At 14:45 Dallas scored on a loose puck in the neutral zone with Denis Gurlanov getting to it. He skated in another to take a shot that traveled across the line and into the net before Mantha and Bernier crashed into one another dislodging the net. Officials went back to see if the puck already cross before the dislodge occurred. It was determined, the goal was indeed good giving Gurlanov his third. 

The Red Wings spent the remainder of the period chasing down Dallas who wanted to make sure they came out of their arena the true winners. When the horn sounded ending 40 minutes, the Stars outshot Detroit 8-7 and doubled the scoring chances from the first period. 

As the third period got underway, Thomas Griess came in due to an injury suffered to Bernier. It didn’t take anything away from Dallas who continued to play on point and bring pressure to him and the Red Wings. They made it 4-1 with Jamie Oleksiak earning his first on a centering drive that went five-hole on Griess. 

A little over a minute later, Detroit cut the margin in half with Filip Hronek taking a shot into traffic. His shot never made the net but as the puck got into the air, Tyler Bertuzzi batted it in with his stick that notched his fourth. With the power play working out at that time, the Red Wings earned another chance to make it a game to win. Detroit had a lot of good chances but none of them made it behind Oettinger. 

Detroit was back in it as they made another push to get closer to the stars and with good movement of the puck, the team could smell it. Danny DeKeyser made Detroit’s third of the night with a long shot from the blue line. It went off the elbow of Dallas’s Justin Dowling. It was DeKeyser’s first since March 29, 2019, and one he was happy to contribute. With six minutes left, and the Red Wings hunting the Stars down, they suffered a penalty that gave them a chance to get one back. 

They did so with the Red Wings out of place and an open net for Ty Dellandrea recording his first NHL goal. The game was put away as Detroit went for the empty net but watched Dowling return Dallas to their three-goal lead. The Red Wings were deflated by the turn of events and with two minutes left, the onslaught wasn’t over. John Klingberg made it 7-3 to get his second while adding insult to injury to their opponents. When it was over, Dallas outshot Detroit 29-22 but their three goals in the final minutes put the Red Wings out of their misery.