DALLAS — If you like special teams, the Stars’ 4-1 win over the Blues was the game for you.
Perhaps the result helped, too.
In a game that featured 10 power plays and one penalty shot, Dallas earned its first win over a Central Division opponent this season. The win gave the Stars three wins in their last four games, and gave Dallas a palate cleanser after a 7-2 drubbing in Minnesota two nights prior.
Three of the Stars’ goals came on special teams, with captain Jamie Benn scoring on the power play and Roope Hintz scoring two short-handed goals. Benn later added an empty-net goal with 1:29 left in the third period.
Brandon Saad scored on one of the Blues’ six power plays for St. Louis’ only goal.
Both of Hintz’s goals looked identical for the speedy Finn. Michael Raffl won a race to the puck along the boards, led the 2-on-1 odd-man rush, and fed Hintz on the backdoor. His first goal was a tap in; his second, a patient roof-job that popped the cap off Jordan Binnington’s water bottle.
Hintz became the first player in Dallas Stars history to score two short-handed goals in the same game. The franchise had not had a player with two shorties since Neal Broten did it in 1988 with Minnesota.
It was Raffl’s second multi-point game since joining the Stars in the offseason.
Benn scored by deflecting Ryan Suter’s point shot with his glove on a won faceoff in the opening seconds of a second-period power play. With his empty-netter, Benn now has six goals in his last eight games after opening the season with an eight-game goalless streak.
Jake Oettinger made 35 saves for the Stars. Binnington stopped 29 shots but kept the Blues in the game early, stopping Jason Robertson and Raffl (also shorthanded) on breakaways and Alexander Radulov on a penalty shot.
The game again brought the Stars (7-7-2) back to .500 with 16 points in 16 games.
It was a feel-good night for the Stars, who badly needed one after Thursday’s fiasco in St. Paul, Minn., a five-goal loss overshadowed by the late healthy scratch of Riley Tufte in his hometown.
They created chances in the first period after St. Louis controlled possession early. They earned enough power plays that a goal felt inevitable, and Benn and Suter teamed up to oblige. After that, the penalty kill and Hintz took over.
It’s been a familiar story for Hintz recently.
During the first 10 games of the season, Hintz had just one assist. He was snake bitten on breakaways, denied by posts and generally unlucky finishing his many scoring chances. It got to the point where Stars coach Rick Bowness opened practice one day by telling his team that Hintz would get a hat trick one of these days.
But he’s hit his stride since Nov. 7, with five goals and two assists in six games.
