The Dallas Stars (16-5-4) revealed their new jerseys, an ode to the 1999 Stanley Cup team, and defeated the Utah Mammoth (12-10-3) 4-3 at American Airlines Center on Friday night.
Roope Hintz, Jamie Benn, Jason Robertson, and Wyatt Johnston scored for the Stars. Jake Oettinger made 27 saves.
In honor of the ’99 Cup team, Oettinger sported a new mask paying homage to Ed Belfour’s “Eagle” mask. That was made even more poetic by Oettinger tying Belfour for the third most wins in franchise history with 160.
Logan Cooley, Kevin Rooney, and Jared McBain scored for the Mammoth. Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves.
Game Recap
Cooley opened the scoring just 57 seconds into the contest on a backdoor tap-in off a cross-crease pass from Dylan Guenther.
The Mammoth doubled their lead at 12:17 thanks to a snap shot in the slot from Rooney, who scored his first as a member of the Mammoth.
Hintz got one back for the Stars, on the power play, on a tip-in off a point shot from Miro Heiskanen.
After taking months to get No. 400 on Saturday, Jamie Benn scored No. 401 at 8:16 of the second period to tie the game at 2-2. Alexander Petrovic sent a bouncing puck to the net from the right point that hopped over two Utah sticks and right to Benn, who corralled it and snapped it past Vanecek.
Robertson put the Stars out front 3-2 just 62 seconds later. Kyle Capobianco fed Robertson from behind the net, and after Robertson’s original shot was saved, Robertson picked up the rebound and put a backhand shot in the back of the net.
At 16:14, Lawson Crouse lofted the puck towards the crease, where McBain gloved it down and tapped it in to tie the game 3-3.
That tie was short-lived as Johnston, while on a 5-on-3 power play, completed a tic-tac-toe from Mikko Rantanen and Heiskanen to restore the Stars’ one-goal lead. With the goal, Johnston became the first player in the NHL to reach double digits in power-play goals, with 10 on the season.
The Mammoth outshot the Stars 30-28 but went 0-for-2 on the power play. The Stars went 2-for-5 on the man advantage.
Up Next
The Mammoth are back in action on Saturday night in St. Louis to take on the Blues. The Stars will host the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night.
