Stars score 4 straight in 3rd period to defeat Flames

DALLAS -- Thomas Harley scored twice as part of a four-goal third period for the Dallas Stars, who pulled away for a 6-2 win against the Calgary Flames at American Airlines Center on Sunday.

“Couple of muffins. Just put them on net,” Harley said. “The first one I thought [Oskar Back] had it. In the huddle I was saying, ‘Go, go, go’ (to the handshake line) and he said it wasn’t him. I’ll take it.”

Jason Robertson and Sam Steel each had a goal and an assist, and Back had two assists for Dallas (17-10-0), which had lost two straight. Jake Oettinger made 29 saves.

“I’m proud of our group. We just finished I think 13 games in 25 nights. We had a road trip east to Florida and Carolina. We had a road trip west to Utah and L.A. and Vegas in that 25 days. We were running on fumes,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “I thought we dug deep tonight. I liked our start. We sagged a little bit in the middle but we got some big performances and plays from some guys at important times. Now we get a well-deserved rest.”

Jonathan Huberdeau and Connor Zary scored for Calgary (13-10-5), which has one win in its past six games (1-5-1). Dustin Wolf made 22 saves.

Roope Hintz gave Dallas a 3-2 lead at 5:13 of the third period when he redirected a pass from Esa Lindell five-hole as he drove to the front of the net.

“The structures in the third, I thought we were pretty good as well but then I felt we hurt ourselves," Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. "We allowed them to get behind us a little bit and too many odd-man rushes against a good hockey team is not a recipe for success."

Sam Steel extended the lead to 4-2 at 12:01 on a shot from the far edge of the right face-off circle.

Harley then made it 5-2 at 13:02 when his point shot deflected in off the far post. Harley scored again at 19:02 for the 6-2 final.

“In previous games, we’ve had opportunities and haven’t cashed in. They come the other way and get one and we’re just trying to crawl back at that point,” Steel said. “It starts with doing the right things and then we capitalized on the opportunities.”

Huberdeau gave Calgary a 1-0 lead 1:00 into the first period on a snap shot off a cross-ice pass by Nazem Kadri.

“We fell asleep for five to seven minutes. They took advantage. I thought the first two periods, 5-on-5, we had some chances,” Huberdeau said. “We just got to throw this one behind us and focus on Nashville.”

Wyatt Johnston tied it 1-1 at 4:26 with a short-handed goal. He forced a turnover inside the blue line and beat Wolf high glove side.

Robertson gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 7:47 in the second period. He scored after Back passed him the puck through the neutral zone as he was coming out of the penalty box.

“The puck was on the wall and we were mucking it out. Was hoping it would get through and it did, and then just took it to the net,” Robertson said. “I haven’t scored a lot this year. I think I do a lot of good things. Offensively, I could do better things. Defensively pretty solid in the details and everything, being responsible. But offensively I want to make more plays. It starts with our good forecheck, starts with executing in the neutral zone.”

Zary tied it 2-2 at 16:08 when Daniil Miromanov's initial shot bounced in off his skates at the edge of the crease.

“At the end of the day, you can’t really look at much else other than it’s a loss. We got to figure out how to win on the road. It’s been six or seven games in a row where we haven’t come out on top,” Zary said. “I think that’s everyone just trying to be a bit better when we come out right from the start.

"I thought we had it for most of the game, but then we let up four goals in the third, which is tough. At moments, we were definitely there. We want it. It’s not that we don’t want it in here. I think every single guy wants it as bad as every other guy and wants to win. We just have to clean up a few details, a couple of bounces here and there and will find our way."

NOTE: Calgary assistant coach Brad Larsen has taken an indefinite leave to attend to a family matter, the team announced on Sunday.