The Dallas Stars and the Pittsburgh Penguins faced off in an early-week, cross-conference matchup in Pittsburgh. The Penguins looked to win their third straight home game, while the Stars looked to bounce back from their 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 9. A fast start from the Stars helped lead them to a 7-1 win over the Penguins.
Game Recap
The scoring came early and often in the first period for the Stars, beginning with Matt Duchene continuing his hot streak to start the season. He snuck a shot past Penguins netminder Joel Blomqvist on the first shot of the game for the Stars. That was just the beginning, with Logan Stankoven, Mason Marchment, Miro Heiskanen (his first two goals of the season), and finally, Tyler Seguin all tallying goals in the first period, pushing the Stars to a 6-0 lead to end the period. The Penguins could not find their footing and were utterly dominated in the period. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan yanked Blomqvist after allowing the third goal of the period, with Alex Nedeljkovic relieving the young goalie.
A less action-packed second period saw the Penguins win the period, ending Jake Oettinger’s shutout bid with just under five minutes to go in the period off an excellent feed from Valtteri Puustinen to Anthony Beauvillier for a nice shot to beat Oettinger blocker side. Overall, the Penguins played a better second period but could not keep up with the Stars’ speed, and Nedeljkovic made several strong saves to try and keep his team somewhat in the game.
The third period was a bit more back-and-forth, with both teams getting chances on the net only to be thwarted by Nedeljkovic and Oettinger until Wyatt Johnston cashed in on the Stars’ second power-play goal of the game. By the end of the game, Marchment tallied five points (one goal and four assists), while Duchene finished with three points (one goal, two assists). The Stars almost doubled the Penguins in shots, recording 39 compared to the 21 the Penguins had.
The Stars move to 9-5-0 on the season and 7-1-0 when scoring first. They will return to home ice on Nov. 14 when they take on the Boston Bruins. The Penguins fall to 6-9-2 and will take on the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 13.
