Stars clinch berth despite blowing three-goal lead in loss to Coyotes

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs despite blowing a three-goal lead in the third period of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Arizona Coyotes at American Airlines Center on Wednesday.

Dallas, which will return to the postseason after failing to qualify last season, is one point ahead of the Nashville Predators for the first wild card from the Western Conference. Nashville has one game in hand.
"We're in the playoffs," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "It's great for the city, it's great for our fans, and it's going to be a great atmosphere here when we get back."
Travis Boyd capped the comeback for the Coyotes when he scored at 1:43 of overtime. Kyle Capobianco's centering pass hit the skate of Jamie Benn, and Boyd quickly shot short side as Scott Wedgewood was moving the other way.
Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist, Joe Pavelski had two assists, and Wedgewood made 33 saves for the Stars (45-30-6), who will conclude their regular season against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
"It's a big point, and a playoff berth is what we were fighting for," Wedgewood said. "It's huge for our organization, our team, all the guys what they've done all year. Since I've been here (acquired in a trade with the Coyotes on March 20) it's been a tough battle. You're obviously upset losing the game when you can get another point in the [wild card] race, but it takes a lot of pressure off Friday for just [staying] alive, which we are now. Just win a game on Friday and see what happens."

Anton Stralman, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Barrett Hayton scored in the third period, and Harri Sateri made 26 saves for the Coyotes (24-50-7), who will conclude their season against the Predators on Friday.
"You put a lot of pressure on yourself as a coach or professional athletes to perform at your highest level," Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. "At some point, we kind of lost our mojo and were not as tough to play against. You don't wake up in the morning with the same feeling and pride and happy about yourself. That was really important for us to get back at it, and I think we've finished really strong."
Jani Hakanpää gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 4:42 of the first period when his one-timer from the point deflected in off the shin of Boyd.
Seguin made it 2-0 at 13:48. Sateri lost sight of the puck after making the initial save on Jason Robertson's one-timer, and Seguin scored off his left skate as he was battling for position with Stralman.
Miro Heiskanen extended the lead to 3-0 at 2:58 of the second period when he scored on a one-timer from the top of the right circle on a 5-on-3 power play.
It was his fifth goal of the season and first since Dec. 20 (41 games).
"I'm going to shoot when I have a chance," Heiskanen said. "Of course, there's probably some place I could shoot more, but I try to shoot when I have a chance and see a lane there. It's been a while since the last one. It was nice to score again."

Stralman made it 3-1 at 3:43 of the third period, taking a pass from Nick Schmaltz as the trailer on a rush and shooting blocker side from the slot.
"I think in the second period we didn't win as many battles," Tourigny said. "We went in the third and got the first goal early. That gave us some hope and from there, I think we were pushing. The pressure was all on them. We all know how important that point was for them. They were on their heels a little bit, and we took advantage of it."
Gostisbehere cut it to 3-2 at 7:20 when his shot from along the left boards deflected in off the skate of Pavelski and Robertson.
Hayton tied it 3-3 at 11:58, finishing a cross-crease pass from Phil Kessel at the right post during a 5-on-3 power play.
"The key is just the compete and desire," Hayton said. "I think it gets to be a grind, been playing some real strong playoff teams lately. I think just embracing that, competing, obviously wanting to play those complete games and taking a lot of pride in our game at the same time. I think that's really showing in the third period as of late."