Johnston, Seguin lead Stars over Wild 4-1

Dec 30, 2022, 04:42 am

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- — Wyatt Johnston scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Tyler Seguin scored twice as the Dallas Stars defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Thursday night.

Jamie Benn also scored for the Stars, who outshot Minnesota 43-25. Jake Oettinger made 24 saves for his third straight victory.

Kirill Kaprizov scored his 20th goal of the season for Minnesota. Marc-Andre Fleury made 39 saves.

“We were, I think, definitely the better team tonight, and we deserved to win that game,” Oettinger said. “Great road effort by our team. Fleury kept them in probably longer than they should have been in there. He was great. They didn’t ask me to do anything special.”

Dallas won the special teams battle, scoring twice on three power plays and blanking the Wild on both of their opportunities with the extra skater.

“There’s no doubt it was a difference maker tonight, and it has to be when you’re playing good teams on the road in situations like this,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “You have to win the goaltending battle, the special teams battle, and I thought we did that tonight.”

The game was tied entering the third period, but Johnston’s fourth goal in the last five games gave Dallas a 2-1 lead. Benn doubled the cushion with a power play goal, and Seguin scored his second of the night into an empty net.

“It wasn’t a fully open game. Both teams played well defensively,” Fleury said. “The power play is where you get most of your chances, and that was the difference.”

Seguin has four goals in his last four games. Jason Robertson assisted on Dallas’ third goal, running his point streak to six games (one goal, eight assists).

Meanwhile, the Stars ran their record to 6-1-1 over their last eight and maintained their five-point lead in the Central Division.

“We’re happy, but we’re never satisfied,” Seguin said. “Once you get past Thanksgiving, it’s all about keep climbing. With our schedule right now, we gotta get all the points we can.”

UP NEXT

Stars: Host San Jose on Saturday.

Wild: Visit St. Louis on Saturday.