National Hockey League
Dallas 4, Minnesota 3
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 28, 2015
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees: Tim Peel, Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen: Andy McElman, Mark Wheler
Attendance: 19024

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Off to the best start in franchise history, the Dallas Stars showed that even when they're down, they're rarely out.

Stars enter Tyler Seguin scored in overtime as Dallas completed an impressive comeback, beating the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Saturday night.

Dallas trailed 3-0 with just over 15 minutes to play in regulation but got goals from defensemen Alex Goligoski and John Klingberg and a short-handed goal from left winger Jamie Benn in a span of less than 10 minutes to draw even.

Goaltender Antti Niemi finished with 23 saves for the Stars (19-5-0), who had lost their previous five games in Minnesota.

Seguin scored on a rush to the Minnesota net with 1:03 to play in overtime on a play set up by Benn.

"We're finding ways to win, and, obviously last year we were finding ways to lose," Seguin said. "We gave up a lot of goals in the third, almost like Minnesota tonight. But we really want to prove to ourselves that we're a great team, not just a good team. Now there's two in a row and it starts with following that up with another win."

Left winger Thomas Vanek and center Charlie Coyle each had a goal and an assist and right winger Jason Pominville also scored for Minnesota.

The Wild (11-7-4) got a 40-save performance from goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who was making just his third start of the season and his first in more than a month.

"I think we're a good hockey team but we're not great," said Vanek, after his team completed a three-game homestand with a 0-2-1 mark. "We have respect for that team, we came out hard and once we get the lead you've got to play smarter, not safer. Sometimes we tend to play safer and they just kept creating and scoring goals."

Goligoski's goal came with 15:03 to play in the third period after he redirected a shot by defenseman Jordie Benn that eluded Kuemper.

"I walked in after the second and I just said, 'We need to get one in the first five just to get back in the game,'" Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "We weren't getting great looks, but we were getting good zone time. We had some in-tight opportunities. We talked about just a little bit more traffic in front of the goaltender, which I thought we got in the third period."

Less than five minutes later, with Minnesota on a power play, Benn got his league-leading 18th goal, snapping a high shot past Kuemper for Dallas' third short-handed goal of the season. Klingberg scored on a long shot from the blue line.

Minnesota started fast and led 2-0 after the first period. A year ago, Vanek started slowly, scoring his second goal of the season on Nov. 28. One year later, to the day, he got Minnesota on the board first with his team-leading 10th goal of the season.

His initial shot from the top of the left circle was blocked by Klingberg, but the puck went right back to Vanek. His second attempt bounced through a screen in front of the net provided by Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin and right winger Justin Fontaine, eluding Niemi for an early 1-0 lead.

Having Fontaine back on the ice was an offensive boost for the Wild. He had missed Minnesota's previous 11 games with a sprained right knee.

A few shifts later, Vanek doubled the Wild lead by capping off a two-on-one rush to the net. He pulled Niemi to the right goal post, then fired a cross-ice pass to Coyle, whose shot hit the back of the net before the goalie could slide across the goal mouth.

After the Wild killed a Dallas power play early in the second period, Pominville caught a long pass from center Mikael Granlund and blasted a slap shot from the top of the right circle that sailed over Niemi's left shoulder.

It broke a season-long drought for Pominville, who has been one of Minnesota's most consistent goal scorers for the past two seasons but had been held without a goal this season until Saturday.

"Boy, what a great 21 minutes and four seconds we played," said Wild coach Mike Yeo, with angry sarcasm. "It was great. Too bad the game didn't end there. It doesn't."

From there, Kuemper made the difference in the second period, as Dallas sent 19 shots his way but could not make one count.

NOTES: The Wild swapped Swedish defensemen, sending Christian Folin to Iowa of the American Hockey League and recalling Gustav Olofsson. Folin had skated in 14 games with the Wild. Olofsson had made his NHL debut on Nov. 19 in Minnesota's 4-2 loss at Boston. ... One reason for the Stars' early success has been a power play that's clicking. Entering Saturday, Dallas ranked second in the league with the man advantage, scoring 27.8 percent of the time. Accordingly, Minnesota entered the game having been short-handed a league-low 50 times. ... Having played three games in four days, Minnesota gets two days off before facing the Blackhawks in Chicago on Tuesday. Dallas, which is in the midst of a four-game trip, will visit the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. The Stars also will play in Vancouver and in Edmonton before their next home game.
Top Game Performances
 
Dallas   Minnesota
Jamie Benn 2 Points Charlie Coyle 2
Jamie Benn 1 Goals Charlie Coyle 1
Cody Eakin 2 Assists Charlie Coyle 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
Jamie Benn 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Antti Niemi .885 Save Percentage Darcy Kuemper .909
Antti Niemi 23 Saves Darcy Kuemper 40
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Dallas 44 4 0-2 2-2 4 33
Minnesota 26 3 0-2 2-2 4 34
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Wild have a W/L % of .583 after a win and .400 after a loss.
  • Dallas will play their next game on the road against Calgary. The Stars have a W/L % of .722 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.