The Dallas Stars are looking for their second win in four days over the Sharks when the two teams meet on Tuesday in San Jose.
Despite a hefty 38-23 shot advantage on Saturday, the Stars had to grind for an eventual 3-2 shootout victory. Dallas twice had to score equalizers in regulation, then had to kill a penalty in overtime just to reach the shootout, which Jamie Benn finally ended with a seventh-round tally.
“You don’t get extra points for how pretty it was,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “(The Sharks) were opportunistic and their goalie (Magnus Chrona) was really good. When you have that combination, you get a chance to beat anyone on any night. … You can’t take anybody for granted.”
Playing extra hockey has become common for the Stars, who have had 19 games decided beyond regulation time. Dallas is 3-2 in shootouts and 7-7 in overtime finishes.
The Stars are on a two-game winning streak and are 3-1-1 in their past five games. Dallas enters Tuesday tied with the Jets in points for first place in the Central Division, though Winnipeg holds the tiebreaker.
As they begin a three-game road trip against the NHL’s three California teams, the Stars aim to continue their impressive play away from home. The Stars are 18-9-5 in road games this season, one of the better away records in the league.
While Dallas is facing the Sharks in consecutive games, San Jose hit the ice on Sunday, falling 4-3 to the Minnesota Wild. The Sharks again couldn’t maintain multiple leads, as the club surrendered 2-0 and 3-2 advantages before Kirill Kaprizov capped a hat trick with the game-winning goal 16:01 into the third period.
“We didn’t have a lot of energy (Sunday),” Sharks forward Nico Sturm said. “I think you could see that. Our forecheck wasn’t as effective as last night (against the Stars), which is normal. It’s the NHL. You play a tough back-to-back, but I thought for the most part we played extremely well (Sunday). We managed the game because we knew we weren’t at our best energy-wise.”
The Sharks were outshot 32-15 for their third-lowest shot total of the season, but they still generated offense thanks to some turnovers from the Wild. Mikael Granlund, Sturm and Anthony Duclair all scored unassisted goals, with Sturm’s goal coming short-handed.
San Jose is 0-6-1 in its past seven games. It is only the third-longest winless drought of the Sharks’ nightmarish season following earlier runs of 12 straight regulation losses and an 0-10-1 record in their first 11 games.
Kaapo Kahkonen has gotten most of the work in net with Mackenzie Blackwood on injured reserve, though the Sharks might be eager to give Chrona another start against Dallas. Playing in just his third NHL game Saturday, Chrona was outstanding in stopping 36 of 38 shots by the Stars.
Jake Oettinger will likely be back in the Stars’ net. Oettinger saved 21 of 23 shots on Saturday and has a .903 save percentage and a 2.89 goals-against average over 39 games this season.
Jason Robertson leads the Stars with 60 points (21 goals, 39 assists). Granlund leads the Sharks with 36 points (eight goals, 28 assists).
–Field Level Media
