Hintz ties it late, lifts Stars past Jets in OT for fourth straight win

DALLAS -- Roope Hintz scored at 3:47 of overtime after tying it late in the third period, and the Dallas Stars rallied for a 3-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

After a Jason Robertson blocked shot in the defensive zone, Miro Heiskanen sprang Hintz on a breakaway, and he beat Stuart Skinner with a snap shot through the five-hole to win it.

“Obviously they had a 3-on-2, and I was so late, I couldn’t get there,” Hintz said. “I was trying to stay back because I saw (Robertson) had a huge block there. Then Miro made a great play to me, and I got a breakaway.”

Hintz tied it 2-2 with 2:00 remaining in the third with Jake Oettinger pulled for the extra attacker. Mikko Rantanen fed a pass from behind the net to Hintz in the low slot, where he shot it past Skinner blocker side.

“When I saw (Rantanen) had the puck behind the net, he delivered right to my wheelhouse,” Hintz said. “It was pretty easy to put it in.”

Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist, and Rantanen and Robertson each had two assists for the Stars (6-3-1), who won their fourth straight. Oettinger made 17 saves.

“That’s what we’ve talked about here the last few days,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “The parity in this league is incredible, and you see so many games like this. I also believe that teams come in here, and we get their best version of themselves…when a goalie’s playing good, you just got to continually stay at it.

“I tell the guys lots that we’re going to play the same way until we yank the goalie, and then all bets are off. You can see our top guys made a nice play.”

Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi scored for the Jets (4-3-3), who have lost four in a row (0-2-2) and five of six (1-3-2). Skinner made 35 saves.

“He was outstanding,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said of Skinner. “I thought he did a fantastic job … we gave up two 5-on-6 goals and an overtime goal. We did a lot of better things than the St. Louis game (2-1 loss at the Blues on Tuesday), just still some things we got to work on.”

Johnston gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 1:17 of the second period. Rantanen received a pass from Robertson at the top of the left circle and relayed it to the opposite side for Johnston, who snapped it in.

Vilardi tied it 1-1 at 10:50. Dylan Samberg released a point shot, and Oettinger couldn’t find the puck before Vilardi retrieved it off his right pad and into the back of the net.

“I just saw it on top of his pad, so I was just hoping the ref wouldn’t blow (the whistle), and he didn’t. So I was able to get it,” Vilardi said.

Connor gave Winnipeg a 2-1 lead less than two minutes later at 12:38. Neal Pionk intercepted a pass from Nils Lundkvist in the Stars’ defensive zone and passed it to Connor in the circle, and he sent a one-timer into the top corner.

“Good hockey game, but our guys played pretty hard,” Gulutzan said. “We were pretty good all night. Just got a little sloppy in the second.”

Said Skinner: “It's tough to lose that point. Those were big points. It's tough to lose that way, especially like, we felt we had it in the bag going into the 6-on-5, and then they obviously make a couple sweet plays and make us pay. But that's a good team over there. I thought we battled."

NOTES: Robertson recorded his 500th NHL point with an assist on Johnston’s goal. He became the seventh-fastest U.S.-born player to 500 career points in NHL history, behind Jeremy Roenick (430 games), Kevin Stevens (431), Craig Janney (435), Auston Matthews (445), Joe Mullen (446) and Neal Broten (461). Robertson also became the third-fastest player in franchise history to reach 500 points behind Minnesota North Stars forwards Broten (461) and Dino Ciccarelli (465). … Dallas forward Radek Faksa left the game in the third period with an unspecified injury. Gulutzan said the team is hopeful Faksa will be all right, but his status will be updated on Saturday following the team's off day.