Stars top Coyotes, move into tie for first in Central

DALLAS --The Dallas Stars moved into a tie for first place in the Central Division when they defeated the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 at American Airlines Center on Wednesday.

Ben Bishop made 39 saves, and Denis Gurianov had two assists for Dallas (35-19-6), which is tied with the St. Louis Blues with 76 points.
The Stars went 2-for-2 on the power play and are 5-0-1 in their past six games.
WATCH: [All Coyotes vs. Stars highlights]
"We had a really good start," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "We dominated the first 10 minutes of the first period and then they dominated the second half. After that, I thought we played well the next 40 minutes and I thought we played a very controlled game."
Adin Hill made 30 saves for Arizona (30-25-8), which had won two straight.
"We have to find a way to win," Hill said. "We're losing these games by one goal when we are losing. Down the stretch here, we have to win those to make it into the playoffs."
Jamie Oleksiak gave the Stars a 3-2 lead at 11:38 of the third period on a slap shot from the high slot that went in off the post. It was his second goal of the season and first since Dec. 14 (26 games).

"I had some time with the puck there in the middle of the ice," Oleksiak said. "I saw we had some traffic in front and I was kind of waiting for it to develop. I just figured get it to the net and hopefully get a bounce or a tip or something.
"It kind of had eyes of its own and went in there. It's a good feeling."
Said Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet, "We just mismanaged the puck and two guys went to the same guy. If we just hold the middle, there's no goal. I think we just got a little frantic there. We had the puck but made a couple of bad passes."
Corey Perry scored to make it 1-0 at 2:19 of the first period, tapping in a pass from Roope Hintz into the open net on the power play.

"I think we're feeding off each other," Perry said about his power-play unit. "We know where each other's going to be. [Gurianov] has a great shot from that side, [Hintz] is controlling the puck on the other end, and you have Miro [Heiskanen] up top."
Jamie Benn appeared to score for Dallas at 13:38, but Tocchet challenged the play for offside, and the call was reversed after a video review.
The Coyotes outshot the Stars 21-13 in the first period.
"I thought we had a good pushback in the second half of the first period and had 21 shots in that first period," Hill said. "We have to find a way to win the game."
After Benn was assessed a boarding major and game misconduct for his hit on Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Taylor Hall scored on the ensuing power play from the top of the right circle through a screen to tie it 1-1 at 12:32 of the second period.

"It's tough when you get a five-minute penalty kill," Bishop said. "We did a good job of killing it and I thought guys did a great job blocking shots."
Radek Faksa gave Dallas a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal on a backhand at 16:01.
Christian Fischer scored at 18:12 to tie it 2-2 when the rebound of Christian Dvorak's initial shot deflected in off his body. The play was reviewed and it was determined that the puck entered the net in a legal fashion.
"I don't know exactly what happened, but it went off of my arm or something and bobbled in," Fischer said. "It was a big goal at the time. In the third period, we just couldn't do it and get a point."

They said it

"That's the great thing about hockey. We can flush this one down. It was a good effort and we all know we could've done a little bit more and maybe got whatever it may be, but we've got a game in less than 24 hours. We're right back at it and that's another two points. We need all the points like I said." -- Coyotes forward Christian Fischer
"Those are the games in the schedule that you really look forward to. We expect them to come in hard and we're going to be ready to go. It's going to be an entertaining game. There's a pretty good little rivalry developing there and it's going to be a battle for first place. Every point is going to count down the stretch." -- Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak on Friday's game against St. Louis

Need to know

Dallas has scored at least one power-play goal in each of its past eight games in which it has had at least one opportunity (11-for-29 in span). … The Stars have won 13 straight home games against Arizona, their longest active streak against any opponent. … Fischer's goal was his first since Dec. 8 (23 games).

What's next

Coyotes:At the St. Louis Blues on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-A, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)
Stars:Host the St. Louis Blues on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-SW+, FS-MW, NHL.TV)