Jamie Benn scored the go-ahead goal and an insurance goal in a short span of the second period Friday for the Dallas Stars in a 4-2 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
Joe Pavelski and Sam Steel also scored, and Jason Robertson had two assists for the Stars (43-19-9, 95 points), who have won three straight and eight of 10.
Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made 20 saves.
Michael Bunting had a goal and an assist, Rickard Rakell also scored and Evgeni Malkin added two assists for the Penguins (30-30-9, 69 points), who have lost three of four.
Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry allowed four goals on 20 shots before he was replaced in the third by Alex Nedeljkovic, who made three saves.
The Penguins opened the scoring on Bunting’s goal at 2:45 of the first. Malkin carried the puck behind the Dallas net and threw it back to Bunting, who stuffed the puck in from near the right post.
Pavelski evened it 1-1 at 7:16 of the first. The rebound of a shot by Thomas Harley bounced off Pavelski, off Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson and in.
On a power play at 5:52 of the second, Benn scored on a rising shot from near the left circle to give the Stars a 2-1 lead.
Benn struck again 1:17 later to make it 3-1 on a shot from a sharp angle to Jarry’s right.
The Penguins soon after got a power play. They had possession the full two minutes and had good movement, but it did not result in a shot on goal. The missed opportunity for a team whose playoff hopes are hanging by a thread prompted captain Sidney Crosby to slam the door as he returned to the bench.
At 4:37 of the third, Steel pushed it to 4-1. Off a pass from Craig Smith near the right-wing boards, Steel beat Jarry blocker side from the mid-slot.
That chased Jarry.
Rakell closed it to 4-2. Off a backhand pass from Malkin, Rakell beat Oettinger point blank when he roofed a shot at 11:03 of the third.
–Field Level Media
