Marchment gets go-ahead goal in 3rd, Stars edge Jets

DALLAS -- Mason Marchment broke a tie at 12:23 of the third period, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 at American Airlines Center on Sunday.

Marchment gave Dallas a 2-1 lead with 7:37 remaining on a backhand from the slot. He was spotted behind the Winnipeg defense by Thomas Harley and sprung for a breakaway, then spun away from a Josh Morrissey backcheck to get the shot off.

“He kind of caught up to me there at the end, and I just tried to protect it as long as I could and get a good shot off. Luckily it went in,” Marchment said. “I was trying to go [top corner] but sometimes it doesn’t work like that. Happy it did.”

Said Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel: “With the schedule like it is, you know it’s a mental mistake and we let a guy get in behind us kind of like the other night in Las Vegas (4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday). We got beat on a rush situation and it’s tough. We’re in a grind right here. The heavy part of the schedule, it doesn’t get any easier.

“We’re happy with the compete and the battle and certainly, 1-1 game going up to seven minutes left into the third period. We have to find the ways to make the difference there and we just didn’t.”

Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz also scored, and Harley had two assists for the Stars (15-8-0), who have won two in a row and four of their past six games (4-2-0). Jake Oettinger made 26 saves.

“They’ve been the best team in the League so far this year, so we’re chasing them right now. Guys stepped up and had a huge effort,” Oettinger said. “[Connor Hellebuyck] is obviously top-of-the-line and top of the mountain when it comes to goalies, so you know you’re not going to get much on him. [Marchment] stepped up and made that huge play and guys sacrificed and played the right way the rest of the game.”

Adam Lowry scored for the Jets (18-7-0), who lost their third straight for the first time this season (0-3-0). Hellebuyck made 28 saves.

“I thought Hellebuyck, I don’t know how many breakaways he stopped. He gave them a chance. We did a lot of good things to earn that win,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “The opponent, the time of the year, what happened the last game we played them. Big team effort from everyone. I really liked our game. I didn’t think we gave a lot and thought we created enough.”

Lowry gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 3:16 of the first period when he deflected a point shot from Haydn Fleury.

“Any time you have that moving screen and the deflection, it’s just about changing the angle,” Lowry said. “I’ll be honest, when I turned around and saw it in, I was surprised too. It was a great job by [Fleury] to get it through. They did a good job at getting out in lanes and making it tough on [Dallas] tonight. For him to get that by the first layer, it was nice to see it go in.”

Johnston tied it 1-1 at 17:06, burying a cross-ice feed from Harley on a 2-on-1 rush. He extended his point streak to six games (two goals, five assists).

“We forechecked them better,” Harley said. “We kind of slowed them up through the neutral zone a little bit better. We defended better. If you do those three things pretty well, you’re going to have a good chance to win.”

Hintz scored into an empty net at 19:52 of the third for the 3-1 final.

“It was a good effort. Gave up a couple of chances but played well enough to win,” Winnipeg defenseman Neal Pionk said. “Didn’t get the result we wanted. That’s been kind of the motto the last couple of games. But, it’s going in the right direction.”

NOTES: Esa Lindell had an assist on Hintz’s goal for his 200th NHL point (51 goals, 149 assists) in 627 games. … Pionk recorded his 200th career assist in 492 NHL games. … Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers did not play due to a lower-body injury sustained against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.