CHICAGO — As the seconds ticked away in the second period of the Stars’ eventual 1-0 shootout win over Chicago on Friday night, Roope Hintz flung his head back in disbelief at the result.
He’d just masterfully executed a two-man game with Jason Robertson to free himself at the net-front. He had a tempting net to shoot at to break a 0-0 draw. But Marc-Andre Fleury had other plans. Fleury stretched across the crease to glove Hintz’s attempt with 6.5 seconds left in the period, denying the Stars on a night he frequently shut down the Dallas offense.
Jacob Peterson got revenge in the shootout. Jake Oettinger made sure of it.
The Stars broke through against Fleury in the shootout, with Peterson notching the game-deciding goal in the sixth round for Dallas to pull out his fourth win in five games after the All-Star break.
As impressive as Fleury was in finishing with 34 saves, Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger matched him save for save, stopping 29 shots on the evening. It was the second career shutout for Oettinger, who has strung together consecutive stellar performances for Dallas.
But it was Fleury who frustrated the Stars.
In the first period, Fleury thwarted two Dallas chances on the rush. Jason Robertson clipped Fleury’s pad after a 3-on-2 rush up the ice. Denis Gurianov tried to beat Fleury by flying down the left wing and ripping a shot, but he couldn’t get it past Fleury.
Gurianov rang a post in the second period, and Alexander Radulov dangled through the Blackhawks defense only to be stopped by Fleury as Radulov tried to put the puck through his pads. Radulov and Robertson each had chances in the third period that they couldn’t find the back of the net.
The Stars came away empty-handed on three power plays on Friday night. Fleury was there every step of the way.
Tyler Seguin almost ended the game in overtime with a diving shot that bounced off the iron. Hintz deflected a puck wide of the net in overtime.
Seguin hit the post in the third round of the shootout with a chance to win the game. Hintz was tripped by a diving poke check in the fifth round.
That set up Peterson to win the game by putting a puck between Fleury’s leg, ending a classic goaltender’s duel that was as entertaining as an up-and-down track meet.
The win allowed the Stars’ playoff push to forge ahead with a new target: the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. With Nashville’s loss on Friday night, combined with the Dallas win, the Stars are just four points behind the Predators with two games in hand (and two games left in Nashville).
Faksa-back: Stars forward Radek Faksa re-entered the Dallas lineup on Friday night after missing three games due to a lower-body injury suffered on Feb. 9 against Nashville. Faksa centered the team’s checking line between Michael Raffl and Luke Glendening.
“I feel good,” Faksa said before the game. “I always said if I didn’t feel good, I wouldn’t play, right? I was trying to make sure I’m good and I feel good enough to play. I’m excited to be back.”
Faksa was injured on a hit by Predators defenseman Ben Harpur in the third period of the win over Nashville, when Harpur “cross-checked me in my hip,” Faksa said.
“I knew something was wrong when it happened right away,” Faksa said. “It’s nothing you can do about it. It just happened. I’m happy it wasn’t anything serious, just three games and I’m back.”
Faksa entered Friday’s game without a goal in his previous 29 games, and only two for the entire season.
“I feel good on the ice, but the stats are not really good for me,” Faksa said. “Hopefully, it will change. But the most important [thing] is we have 35 games left and make the playoffs. If we make the playoffs, that’s the most important stuff and everyone will be happy, right?”
This season, Faksa has transitioned to a different role for the Stars, averaging a minute and half less ice time per game, and not playing at all on the power play. He was previously a mainstay at the net-front for the Stars with the man-advantage.
“My role is for sure different so I won’t get as many points as I would on the power play or stuff like that,” Faksa said. “I like to push myself and be better and better, for sure. Our line wants to help us win, so we have to score some goals as well. I think we can do a better job and score more goals like the third line.”
Back and forth: After Thursday’s practice in Chicago, Stars coach Rick Bowness mentioned how captain Jamie Benn likes going back and forth between center and left wing, so much so that Benn practiced at center on Thursday before going back to left wing on Friday.
But Benn went back and forth between the two positions on Friday night. He began on a line with center Tyler Seguin and right wing Denis Gurianov. During the second period, he shifted to center to play with left wing Joel Kiviranta and right wing Alexander Radulov.
‘No brainer’: The Stars started Jake Oettinger in goal for the second straight game and the seventh time in the last eight games. Oettinger was coming off a sparkling 46-save performance during a 4-1 win over Colorado on Tuesday night.
“No brainer on that one,” Bowness said, “and I’m not the smartest guy.”
The Stars have one more game on this road trip: Sunday at Arizona, where the Stars could go back to Braden Holtby between the pipes.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism