The Dallas Stars (16-5-4) unveiled their new jerseys, an ode to the 1999 Stanley Cup team, and defeated the Utah Mammoth (12-10-3) 4-3 at the American Airlines Center on Friday night.
Roope Hintz, Jamie Benn, Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston scored for the Stars. Jake Oettinger made 27 saves.
In honor of the ’99 Cup team, Oettinger wore a new mask in tribute to Ed Belfour’s “Eagle” mask. That was made even more poetic as Oettinger tied Belfour for the third most wins in franchise history with 160.
Logan Cooley, Kevin Rooney and Jared McBain scored for the Mammoth. Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves.
Summary of the game
Cooley opened the scoring just 57 seconds into the game on a backdoor tap off a Dylan Guenther cross pass.
The Mammoth doubled their lead at 12:17 thanks to a snap in the slot from Rooney, who scored his first as a member of the Mammoth.
Hintz got one back for the Stars, on the power play, after a tip-in on a Miro Heiskanen point shot.
After taking months to reach No. 400 on Saturday, Jamie Benn scored No. 401 at 8:16 of the second period, tying the game at 2-2. Alexander Petrovic sent a bouncing puck toward the net from the right point that jumped over two Utah sticks and straight to Benn, who corralled the puck and fired past Vanecek.
Robertson put the Stars ahead 3-2 just 62 seconds later. Kyle Capobianco fed Robertson from behind the net, and after Robertson’s original shot was saved, Robertson picked up the rebound and fired a backhand shot into the back of the net.
At 16:14, Lawson Crouse raised the puck toward the crease, where McBain gloved it and tapped in to tie the game at 3-3.
That tie was short-lived as Johnston, during a 5-on-3 power play, completed a tic-tac-toe of Mikko Rantanen and Heiskanen to restore the Stars’ one-goal lead. With the goal, Johnston became the first player in the NHL to reach double figures in power play goals, with 10 on the season.
The Mammoth outscored the Stars 30-28, but went 0-for-2 on the power play. The Stars went 2-for-5 on the man advantage.
Next
The Mammoet are back in action Saturday night in St. Louis to take on the Blues. The Stars will host the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night.
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