Late rally not enough as Stars fall to Jets

The Dallas Stars saw Saturday's game against Winnipeg as an opportunity to see how much they've closed the gap against one of the top teams in the West and a team that beat them twice handily in early November. What they got was a wake-up call in a 5-3 loss to the Jets at American Airlines on Saturday evening.
After scoring just 10 seconds into the game and taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, the Stars were hammered in the second period by the Jets, who scored five unanswered goals to take control of the game.

WATCH: [All Stars vs. Jets highlights]
"We were in a position to take a big step today, and we didn't take it," said Stars coach Ken Hitchcock. "We could have taken a step the way we played in the first period, but they made us pay for every mistake."
The Stars have lost all three games to Winnipeg this season and been outscored 14-6. The Jets are the only team in the Central Division the Stars have yet to defeat.
"They've beat us three times now, so we have got work to do. And I think we know it," said Stars defenseman Marc Methot. "If anything, it is another learning experience for us. They are one of the best teams in the NHL, and you want to measure up to that team and know you belong. We've got to get better. It's a good wakeup call for this group."
"They are a good team, and they showed us tonight," said Stars forward Alexander Radulov. "You can't play the way we did in the second period, turn the puck over and let them play their game. You see what happens."

The loss was the was fourth in the last six games overall for the Stars, who fell to 35-23-6 on the season. The Stars remain in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Tyler Pitlick, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov scored goals for Dallas. Kari Lehtonen got the start in goal but was pulled at 11:59 of the second after allowing four goals on 21 shots. Ben Bishop played the rest of the way and stopped five of six shots.
Patrick Laine scored two goals, Nikolaj Ehlers tallied one goal and two assists, and Dustin Byfuglien chipped in three assists for the Jets, who won for the fifth time in the last six games and improved to 37-16-9 on the season.
"What we were good at tonight was that we were on pucks and we knocked a lot of pucks down and countered back quickly," said Jets coach Paul Maurice.
"It's difficult to defend well on change of possession. Our forwards, especially, skated well and knocked a lot of pucks down and created some quick strikes."
After scoring just one first-period goal in the previous 12 games, the Stars struck for a quick one on Saturday. After Radek Faksa won an offensive zone draw, Pitlick picked a corner on Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson from the left circle to put the Stars up 1-0 just 10 seconds into the game.

But the Jets struck for five straight goals in the second to take control of the game. Dallas started the period on the power play, but Stars captain Jamie Benn took a hooking penalty to put the two sides at four-on-four. Ehlers took a drop pass from Byfuglien on the rush to tie the game 1-1 at the 49 second mark.
"The start of the second [period] was a power play, then take a penalty, and they got a four-on-four goal, and then it just kept coming from there," said Benn. "They are a good team, and we have to get up to their level."
The Jets had a chance to take the lead less than two minutes later, but Laine shot wide on a penalty shot at the 2:46 mark. The Jets took the lead at 6:33 of the second when Jack Roslovic skated around Benn in the neutral zone and set up Toby Enstrom, who scored from the right circle to make it a 2-1 game.
Mark Scheifele scored from the slot 88 seconds later with Winnipeg on its second power play of the game, and it was 3-1 Winnipeg.
Laine scored the next two goals, tallying from the slot at the 11:59 mark to extend the lead to 4-1 to end the night for Lehtonen, who was replaced by Bishop. Laine then scored from the right circle to push the lead to 5-1 at the 18:47 mark of the second.
Seguin scored off a blast from the slot 40 seconds later to cut the lead to 5-2 going into the third period. Radulov scored with 46.8 seconds left in the third to round out the scoring and make it a 5-3 final.

Notes

What's Next

The Stars continue their homestand Tuesday when they take on the Calgary Flames. This will be the third and final meeting between the Stars and Flames. Dallas is 2-0-0 in the season series.

Stars Lineup

Devin Shore - Jamie Benn - Alexander Radulov
Remi Elie - Tyler Seguin - Mattias Janmark
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Gemel Smith - Jason Spezza - Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Greg Pateryn
Marc Methot - Stephen Johns
Kari Lehtonen
Ben Bishop
Scratched:Julius Honka
Injured:Martin Hanzal (lower body)

This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.