Johnston has goal, assist, Stars edge Jets

Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg on Saturday.

“I think that’s what depth gives you,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said of Johnston’s performance. “We’ve become so used to Roope [Hintz]’s line dominating our offense every night that right now they’re a little cold, and we’re getting contributions from Wyatt and Matt Duchene sticking the puck in the night every night. ... That’s the benefit of depth, having different contributors to help you win games.”

Thomas Harley and Duchene also scored for Dallas (9-3-1). Scott Wedgewood made 31 saves.

Cole Perfetti and Brenden Dillon scored for Winnipeg (7-5-2), which had won its past three games. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves.

“You could tell right from the first five minutes of the game, [Dallas wasn't] coming,” Jets associate coach Scott Arniel said. “Unless they had real good dump-ins, unless they had numbers, they weren’t really coming real hard on the forecheck. They were sitting above us kind of making us have to really work to get into their end of the rink. Those are the games you have to be smart and patient with.”

Harley gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 2:13 of the second period on a one-timer from the right face-off dot.

Johnston scored the first short-handed goal of his NHL career after he forced a turnover at the blue line to give Dallas a 2-0 lead at 5:20.

“I see the net, a little 2-on-1 with [Jamie Benn] there, and I mean, I just saw a spot and decided to take the shot,” Johnston said. “Lucky enough, it hit the spot and went in.”

Perfetti cut the lead to 2-1 at 8:28, burying a rebound as he drove to the front of the net. He has seven points (three goals, four assists) during a six-game point streak.

“Just feeling a little more comfortable,” Perfetti said. “As a line (with Vladislav Namestnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers), we’re creating a lot. I think we’ve been creating since we got together. When you create that much, I think points are going to come, chances are going to come, pucks are going to go in the net.”

Duchene pushed the lead to 3-1 at 11:57, scoring a power-play goal off a pass from Johnston from behind the net.

Dillon cut the lead to 3-2 at 10:05 of the third period with a shot from the point past a screened Wedgewood.

“It’s nice to contribute, for sure,” Dillon said. “It was a big time in the third period there. I thought we were getting momentum. We played a great third period. It would have been nice to get another one and make it a really big goal.”

Winnipeg outshot Dallas 16-7 in the third period, but DeBoer said he though it was "maybe our best road game of the year.

“I liked how we started. I liked us the entire 60 minutes," he said. "I thought we were tight, we were smart with the puck, we were competitive, built the lead. That’s how you want to play on the road. Protect [Wedgewood] for the most part. In the third, they grabbed some momentum from the screened shot that they got in from the point, but other than a little bit here or there, it was a pretty tidy road win.”

NOTES: Jets forward Mark Scheifele had an assist and has eight points in his past three games (one goal, seven assists). ... Duchene has four points (two goals, two assists) in two games since returning from an upper-body injury. ... Johnston is the third player age 20 or younger in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history to score a short-handed goal (Brian Bellows, Glen Sharpley).