Roope Hintz scores 3 times as Stars beat Blackhawks 5-2

Mar 3, 2023, 05:32 am

CHICAGO -- — Dallas coach Peter DeBoer liked how his team kept its cool after a tough second period.

The stars on the Stars led the way.

Hintz scored three times, and Dallas beat Chicago 5-2 on Thursday night in the Blackhawks’ first home game since the Patrick Kane trade.

The 26-year-old Hintz has six goals during a four-game scoring streak. He has 29 goals on the season after he scored a career-best 37 last year.

Jamie Benn snapped a tie in the third period and Matt Murray made 19 saves in his NHL debut, helping Dallas (33-16-13) to its third win in four games. The Western Conference leaders also beat Arizona 4-2 on Wednesday night.

“Our big guys came through,” DeBoer said. “Jamie Benn with a huge goal there to start the period, which kind of really took a little bit of the pressure off.”

Back at home after Kane was dealt to the New York Rangers on Tuesday, Chicago (21-35-5) dropped its third straight game. The Blackhawks showed a Kane tribute video during the first period, and fans thanked the three-time Stanley Cup champion with chalk messages in a United Center parking lot.

Chicago played without Max Domi, who was scratched for what the team said was “roster management.” The Blackhawks announced after the game that the veteran forward had been traded to the Stars.

“We've had some guys get shipped off here and new guys come in, but I thought we were competitive tonight,” defenseman Seth Jones said.

The Blackhawks trailed 2-1 after the first period, but Jones scored 26 seconds into the second on a shot through traffic from outside the right circle. It was the seventh goal of the season for the All-Star.

The Stars went ahead to stay when Benn scored his 25th goal from in close just 45 seconds into the third. He has six goals in his last 10 games.

After Chicago came up empty on a power play, Esa Lindell and Hintz added empty-net goals.

“I thought we deserved it tonight,” Benn said. “We played well. We grinded them down for most of the game. When you do that shift after shift after shift, you know it's going to pay off.”

Dallas jumped in front when Hintz scored 10:21 into the first period. With Caleb Jones in the penalty box for high-sticking, Joe Pavelski was stopped by Mrazek, but the center got the puck back and set up Hintz in the left circle.

Chicago rookie Cole Guttman scored his third goal when he knocked home a rebound at 15:54, but the Stars got another power-play opportunity when Jarred Tinordi was sent off for tripping. Hintz then made it 2-1 on a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Miro Heiskanen.

Dallas has scored at least one power-play goal in four of its last five games. Before its current run, it had an eight-game stretch when it went 1 for 25 with the man advantage.

“We have had good looks, but we just didn't score earlier when we had that stretch,” Hintz said of the power play. “But now when we get those (chances), we put those pucks in.”

MURRAY'S DEBUT

Murray said getting the win in his debut was “one of the best things that ever happened.” He got a puck that he planned to give to his parents.

The Stars sent Murray back to the minors when they announced the Domi deal.

MORE MOVES

The Blackhawks also made two minor trades, and they recalled forward Lukas Reichel from Rockford of the American Hockey League. The 20-year-old Reichel, one of the team's top prospects, skated for about 17 minutes in his fifth game with Chicago this season.

“I don’t know how long this will be, but the plan would be, at some point, he’ll probably play playoff games in Rockford and that’s a huge experience for guys at the pro level to go out and battle there,” coach Luke Richardson said.

Chicago acquired Maxim Golod from Anaheim for Dylan Sikura in a swap of minor league forwards, and it also got forward Anders Bjork from Buffalo in exchange for future considerations.

UP NEXT

Stars: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

Blackhawks: Host the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.

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Follow Jay Cohen at https://twitter.com/jcohenap

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