Stankoven scores again, Stars defeat Jets

Logan Stankoven scored his third goal in four NHL games for the Dallas Stars, helping them to a 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Thursday.

“He’s been awesome,” Stars forward Joe Pavelski said of Stankoven. “That line (Stankoven, Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn) has been as good as any line. They’re fun to watch, they’re fun to follow up and go out next shift because they’re competing. … Fun to watch, and they’re getting rewarded for it. Obviously, Logan’s scoring some goals, but they’re all around it and it’s a complete line right now.”

Pavelski and Roope Hintz each had a goal and an assist for the Stars (36-17-9), who had lost six of seven (1-3-3). Jake Oettinger made 25 saves in his 100th NHL win.

“Big response,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “I was a little worried about our energy today. Obviously, the [Chris Tanev] trade (on Wednesday) energized our group. Real solid effort. We didn't have any passengers tonight. The guys really emptied the tank for how our schedule has looked the last 14 days.”

Vladislav Namestnikov scored for the Jets (37-16-5), who had a four-game winning streak end. Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves.

“We've been talking about this for two weeks,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “There were some good things in the first period, but then you give them three goals like we did, having the puck twice and turning it over, and then a terrible line change. That’s just beating yourself, and that's just giving a very good hockey team three goals. It wasn't as bad as the score, but it was self-inflicted problems.”

The Stars have won all three games against the Jets this season, outscoring them 9-3.

“We just haven't brought our A-game against them,” Bowness said. “There's just not enough guys tonight and in those games that brought their A-game. A B-game is not going to beat them, and they've played better than we have."

Jason Robertson gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 6:52 of the first period when Pavelski intercepted Cole Perfetti’s clearing attempt and banked it off the boards to Robertson, who scored five-hole from the right circle.

“Great to get back on track,” Robertson said. “And obviously, against one of the best teams in our division. It's a good response.”

Dallas scored two goals in 1:36.

Pavelski made it 2-0 at 16:41 with a one-handed deflection of Jani Hakanpää's point shot.

“There’s a lot of belief in this room,” Pavelski said. “There’s more out there for us. We’ve got confidence in this group and it’s on us to keep getting better.”

Stankoven extended it to 3-0 at 18:17, stealing the puck from Mason Appleton at the Winnipeg blue line and eventually slapping in a rebound in the low slot. Stankoven became the first player in Stars history to have a three-game goal streak in the first week of his NHL career.

“It's great,” DeBoer said. “You can see [Johnston] and Logan are going to be really good NHL players for a long time here and lead this franchise.”

Namestnikov cut it to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 13:24 of the second when he collected a Nikolaj Ehlers pass and scored from the side of the crease.

It was Namestnikov’s first point in 13 games.

“I thought we weren’t managing the puck very well at the beginning [of the game],” Namestnikov said. “I thought we gave them the first two [goals]. I had a bad line change and they converted on it. Just got to be more cautious with the puck at the start of the game.”

Hintz scored into an empty net at 18:50 of the third period for the 4-1 final.

With the win, Dallas jumped past Winnipeg into first place in the Central Division. The Stars lead the Jets and Colorado Avalanche by two points.

“They have some games in hand on us, so this is huge,” Oettinger said. "You know, we would have been behind them by a good amount if we lost. Guys put three in right away for me. It’s huge, and just play the right way. We weren’t cheating. Smart hockey.”

NOTES: Robertson has nine goals in 10 games against Winnipeg. He reached 20 goals for the third straight season, trailing Mike Modano (eight), Jamie Benn (six), Tyler Seguin (six), Pavelski (four) and Loui Eriksson (four) for the longest streak in Dallas history. … Oettinger became the fourth goalie in Stars history to reach 100 wins and the second-fastest (177 games), behind Ed Belfour (174 games). He became the third-fastest United States-born goalie in NHL history to reach the mark, behind Frank Brimsek (150 games) and Jimmy Howard (171 games). … Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi sustained an upper-body injury in the third period. Bowness said he is concerned about his availability for the game at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.