It took them an extra frame to do it, but the Dallas Stars defeated the Redwings in Detroit, 5-4, on a Roope Hintz overtime goal on Friday night.
The winning goal from Hintz came two minutes into the overtime period when he bunted the puck past the Detroit goalie following a slick pass from Joe Pavelski, his third assist in the game and number twenty-seven on the season.
Pavelski leads the team in assists and points on the season with forty-three. Hintz’s goal gives him seventeen on the season, leading the team in the category.
“That was a great pass,” Hintz said of Pavelski’s play. “I just tried to get my stick on there. (The shot) wasn’t fast, but it went in, so that’s good.”
The win against Detroit made it two in a row on the road for the Stars after dropping their previous three contests.
Dallas struck first in Detroit midway through the first period when Ryan Suter scored his fourth goal of the year, the benefactor of an assist from Miro Heiskanen and Tyler Seguin.
The Stars had trouble keeping pace with the early lead, however, getting outscored by the Redwings 3-1.
The Stars got a score from Joel Kiviranta, his first on the season. They found themselves behind 3-2 late in the second period before Esa Lindell scored his third goal of the season with 90 seconds left before the second intermission.
Knotted at three in the third, Detroit took a 4-3 lead at the 13:46 mark.
Dallas bounced back five minutes later when Seguin banged a shot that ricocheted off Detroit goalie Alex Nedeljkovic into the air and landed about 15-feet in front of the net.
Jason Robertson found the puck and then reared back, firing a shot into the back of the net to even the score 4-4. Robertson’s goal was his sixteenth of the season, and assists were earned by Pavelski and John Klingberg on a play that eventually sent the game into overtime.
Hintz’s game-winning goal in overtime came on a powerplay. Before the goal, the Stars were 0-4 with the man-advantage. The Stars outshot the Redwings 32-28 had more hits (18-8) and blocks (15-11) on the nights while also killing three of Detroit’s four power plays.
“This is a very resilient group,” Stars Head Coach Rick Bowness said. “Things haven’t gone great for us at times this season, but no one has hung their heads. No one feels sorry for themselves. I give our guys a lot of credit.”
Braden Holtby was in the net for the Stars, stopping 24-of-28 shots and running his record to 8-8-1 on the season in the win.
The Stars next play on January 24 as they continue their current road trip with a stop in New Jersey to face the Devils at 7 p.m. Eastern.
The Stars boast a record of 20-16-2 on the season, putting them in sixth place in the Central Division, and the Devils come into the contest with a 15-20-5 mark.
The game can be viewed locally on Bally Sports Network.