#LGRW Final: Vrana's four goals lead Detroit to 7-3 win over Dallas

DETROIT --With several key players out of the lineup and in the midst of a three-game losing streak, it was crucial for the Detroit Red Wings to start on time Thursday night, and the Wings did just that with three first-period goals en route to a gritty 7-3 victory over the Dallas Stars.

New Detroit forwards Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik combined for five goals, including Vrana's first career four-goal game and Panik's first tally with the Wings, as Detroit snapped a three-game losing streak and improved its record at Little Caesars Arena to 11-10-4 this season.
Vrana's second career hat trick marked the first time a Red Wings player earned a hat trick in his first four games with the club since 1944. It was also the first time a Red Wings player scored four goals in a game since Vrana's trade subject, Anthony Mantha, did so on October 6, 2019.

Red Wings goalie Thomas Greiss made 43 saves to help Detroit improve to 17-25-7 overall and tie its win total from last season. Dallas' loss dropped the Stars to 19-15-12 this season, two points shy of a playoff spot in the Central Division with 10 games remaining in their regular season.
The Red Wings opened the scoring when Filip Zadina intercepted a pass from Stars defenseman Andrej Sekera, gained the zone and dropped a pass to Vrana who ripped a shot as he fell to ice that beat Dallas goaltender Anton Khudobin top-shelf to give Detroit a 1-0 lead at 9:50 of the first period.

Detroit extended its lead to 2-0 at 15:35 of the first when Marc Staal fired a shot from the blue line and Luke Glendening swatted his stick at the puck for a perfect deflection that pinballed past Khudobin at a sharp angle and into the net.
The Red Wings put an exclamation point on the first with just 10 seconds left in the opening frame when Panik floated the puck toward Khudobin from the blue line and after the Stars' goalie failed to make a basket catch, Panik hustled to the net, found the loose puck and jammed it home to give Detroit a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

Stars rookie goalie Jake Oettinger relieved Khudobin to start the second period.
Dallas got on the board shortly after Michael Rasmussen was sent to the box for tripping 1:11 into the second. Less than a minute into the power play, Hancock, Mich., native Tanner Kero carried the puck behind the net and slid a pass to Radek Faksa who beat Greiss to cut the Wings' lead to 3-1.
Detroit re-gained a three-goal lead less than five minutes later when Danny DeKeyser fired a shot from the blue line that had Oettinger sliding to his right, but Vrana deflected the shot and with Oettinger out of position, the puck slid into the net to make it a 4-1 game at 6:50 of the second.

The Stars again cut the lead to two just as their second power play of the period ended, when the Red Wings failed to clear the zone and Joe Pavelski fired a shot that beat Greiss to make it a 4-2 game with 7:14 remaining in the middle frame.
Vrana secured his hat trick at 10:09 of the third period when he stole the puck from John Klingberg at his own blue line and sprinted toward Oettinger on a breakaway. The 25-year-old forward calmly lifted the puck over Oettinger's shoulder to give Detroit a three-goal lead for the third time in the game.

At 6:31 to go, Stars forward Denis Gurianov added another power-play goal to make it a 5-3 game, but less than three minutes later, Vrana capped off his historic night with his fourth goal, and Sam Gagner added an empty-netter with 1:13 remaining to complete the offensive explosion.

DeKeyser and Zadina each earned two assists on the night as the Wings scored seven goals in a game for the first time since November 15, 2017.
The Red Wings will look to keep up the offensive momentum on Saturday night as they wrap up the season series with Stars. Puck drop for Saturday's series finale at Little Caesars Arena is set for 7 p.m. on Bally Sports Detroit.