Stephen Johns' goal midway through the third period proved to be the game-winner and Dallas goalkeeper Ben Bishop turned away 28 shots as the Stars defeated the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Friday at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas.

The win allowed Dallas to pull into a tie with the Blues for third place in the Central Division. The Stars are 6-1-0 in their past seven games and 12-4-1 in their past 16 matches.

St. Louis, which owned a 29-16 edge in shots in the match, has lost three in a row and is now 8-5-1 in its past 14 games.

After a scoreless first period in which the Stars managed just three shots on goal, Dallas broke through 2:42 into the second. Mattias Janmark scored on the power play as he fired a pass that deflected off a defender into the net behind St. Louis goaltender Jake Allen. John Klingberg and Martin Hanzal were credited with assists on the goal.

The Blues ended up outshooting Dallas 12-7 in the second period -- and 20-10 through the first two periods -- but had nothing to show for that advantage.

Dallas added an insurance goal midway through the third period as Johns beat Allen on the short side with a slap shot from near the boards after a pass from Jamie Benn. Marc Methot was also given an assist on the score.

Methot had missed 41 of the Stars' 42 games since Nov. 6 because of a knee injury.

Brayden Schenn brought the Blues to within 2-1 when he beat Bishop for an unassisted goal on a power-play opportunity with 1:14 to play in regulation.

Dallas returns to the ice on Sunday at San Jose while the Blues' next match is also against San Jose, on Feb. 20 in St. Louis.

--Field Level Media