On verge of history, Stars host sliding Mammoth in Central showdown
As they conclude a six-game, 11-day homestand, the Dallas Stars are finding ways to grind out victories and pick up points as they look to chase down the Colorado Avalanche for the top seed in the Central Division.
Before taking on the Avalanche on the road later this week, Dallas wraps its home stretch Monday night against the Utah Mammoth.
The Stars are on the verge of franchise history. A win or an overtime loss on Monday would stretch their points streak (currently 14-0-1) to 16 games, breaking the team record from 1998-99.
Wyatt Johnston scored and added a helper, Michael Bunting tallied in regulation and Thomas Harley added the overtime winner as the Stars edged the visiting Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Saturday night to bring their point streak to 15.
It was the seventh overtime winner of Harley's career, passing John Klingberg for the most by a Stars defenseman.
Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for the Stars, who have won four straight and are 22-7-4 on home ice this season. Dallas has points in 12 straight Oettinger starts.
"I thought we played a good game (on Saturday)," Stars forward Matt Duchene said. "I don't know how many scoring chances we gave up, I don't think it was many. This is a grind of a schedule. We're playing a lot of good teams."
Jason Robertson, who had an assist in Saturday's win, paces the Stars with 79 points in 66 games and shares the team lead for goals (36) with Johnston.
"We've got different guys stepping up at different moments for us right now, and that's why we're going like we are," Duchene added.
Monday is the fourth and final meeting between the Mammoth and Stars. Dallas has won two of the first three encounters between the clubs.
Dylan Guenther scored a pair of goals and Ian Cole added the other as Utah fell 4-3 to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, wrapping up a two-game home stretch. Karel Vejmelka made 19 saves.
Utah, first in the Western Conference wild-card race entering Sunday's action, is winless in four straight (0-2-2). Guenther had the Mammoth in the driver's seat with two goals in the first seven minutes of play, but the Penguins scored twice on the power play to rally for the victory.
"I think we've been trying to make a concerted effort to stick with the game plan," Cole explained. "Even though there were stretches of that game where we did a really good job sticking to it, and there were stretches where we kind of deviated, and we got away from it. They ended up cutting out plays and transitioned back on us and, you know, call it unforced errors, so yeah, we're going to have to do some soul-searching and figure out how we want to win."
The Mammoth open a brief two-game road trip on Monday, looking to improve on a 16-16-3 road record. Utah has a four-point lead on the San Jose Sharks in the wild-card race.
"As much as you want to break everything down, you can't beat yourself up for too long -- there's 15 games left, so make sure we learn from it, but it doesn't bleed into our other games," Guenther said.
Captain Clayton Keller has a team-high 45 assists and 64 points in 67 games this season, while Guenther, who has five goals over his last five games, paces the Mammoth with 33 tallies in 65 games.
Utah wraps up its road trip in Vegas on Thursday night.