Hintz has career-high 4 assists, Stars score 6 to pull away from Kings

DALLAS -- Roope Hintz had an NHL-career high four assists, and Logan Stankoven scored twice for the Dallas Stars in a 6-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at American Airlines Center on Friday.

“[Stankoven] was due,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “He works so hard, and he’s ridden the roller coaster that a lot of young players in this league ride of confidence. He stuck with it. I thought tonight, he hung around the net and both of his goals were kind of stopping inside. L.A. probably defends that area better than any team in the League, so the fact that he was in there and found some pucks was great for him and great for us."

Jason Robertson had a goal and two assists, and Sam Steel had a goal and an assist for the Stars (38-19-2), who are 9-2-1 in their past 12 games. Thomas Harley had two assists, and Jake Oettinger made 29 saves.

“It was great to see [Stankoven] get a couple of goals,” Hintz said. “He’s had so many good looks. Sometimes there’s times that it just doesn’t go in, so it’s great to see him get a couple today. He’s a great player, he works hard, makes great plays. It’s fun to play with him.

“Everyone goes through those times. You got to try not to think about that, live in the moment, and keep your head in there and not get frustrated.”

Warren Foegele and Trevor Moore scored for the Kings (31-18-8), who had their seven-game point streak end (5-0-2). Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves.

“They are a good team, so you have to play them hard and clean and play them tight, and their power play is going good,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “We give them those opportunities in their building, and they haven’t been here in a month. The place was going pretty good, and that’s where you shoot yourself in the foot. You can ask your penalty kill to kill them all, but that’s probably not going to happen.”

Robertson gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 4:21 of the first period on a rebound from the bottom of the left face-off circle.

Foegele tied it 1-1 at 6:44 on a shot from the backdoor when Phillip Danault spotted him charging to the net.

Matt Duchene’s power-play goal put the Stars back ahead 2-1 at 11:59 on a tipped shot from the side of the net.

“[Dallas] has always been good at this with shot tips,” Danault said. “Their [defensemen] are looking for shots every time and had a double tip on a power play. They have some good players, and they can score in different ways.

Stankoven extended it to 3-1 at 14:11 on a rebound to the left of Kuemper.

“I think it’s just consistent work for me,” Stankoven said. “First one on the ice for practices and trying to be the last one off the ice, so it’s just continuous work. It’s nice to see it pay off for once.”

Wyatt Johnston pushed it to 4-1 at 4:57 of the second period on the power play when the puck deflected off Hintz and hit Johnston in front of the net.

Moore cut it to 4-2 at 13:51 on a wraparound.

“I know what to expect from [Foegele and Moore] every game,” Danault said. “Every time we go onto the ice, I know what to expect, I know where they are, we talk to each other. We work hard, we work the right way. We all care defensively. We play big lines as well which is our bread and butter, just trying to get some offense as well.”

Stankoven’s second goal of the game made it 5-2 at 4:06 of the third period on a wraparound.

Steel then scored on a short-handed breakaway at 6:19 for the 6-2 final.

“I don’t remember my last breakaway, so I got a little bit more juice there,” Steel said. “It was nice to see nothing in front of me. Kind of an errant pass and I kind of picked my head up and didn’t really feel any pressure anywhere. Had some time to make a move, nice to get one.”

NOTES: Robertson has now scored 25 or more goals in four consecutive seasons. He became the sixth Dallas player in the past 30 years to record four or more consecutive 25-goal campaigns, joining Jamie Benn (six), Tyler Seguin (six), Mike Modano (five), Joe Pavelski (four) and Loui Eriksson (four). … The Stars won their 16th contest since Jan. 1, surpassing the Winnipeg Jets and Detroit Red Wings (15) for the most over that span.