– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DALLAS — Matt Duchene thought the game was over and his team had lost. Those thoughts raced through his mind before he received the puck before the actual end of the game and won it for the Dallas Stars.
Just seconds after teammate Scott Wedgewood made a save on a 2-on-0 breakaway, Duchene scored the game-winning goal with 9.2 seconds remaining in overtime to life the Stars to a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks inside American Airlines Center on Thursday evening. That tally was the NHL-leading sixth game-winning goal for Duchene, who has scored a point in each of his last five games.
The opportunity to win the game would not have come without the heroics of Wedgewood, who stopped Elias Pettersson from point-black range on a breakaway chance. Soon after the Canucks changed all three skaters once the chance had passed, defenseman Thomas Harley — who scored the game-tying goal with 3:30 remaining in the third — found Duchene with a stretch pass, who then slid a shot through the legs of Vancouver goalkeeper Thatcher Demko to give the Stars their fourth consecutive home victory.
“Wedge makes a 2-on-0 against one of the hottest players in the league. You see a 2-on-0, you’re kind of half heading to the bench, half headed to the room,” Duchene said. “Unbelievable save by him. Harls’ obviously a big goal to tie it up, great pass on the breakaway.”
Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua each had a goal and assist for the Canucks, who came in winners of six of their last seven games and led the league in points on the season. The defeat was Demko’s first against the Stars, as the San Diego native had won his first seven games against Dallas in his career.
Vancouver ended its four-game road trip at 2-0-2 and now heads back home to play the last-place Sharks before the Christmas break.
“There’s a lot of confidence. It’s a close group,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said. “These kind of moments are good. It builds character, and it’s good for the guys. I know they’re disappointed, but we have to get some rest. We’ve got one more game before the holidays, a big game, then we have a much deserved rest. The guys deserve it.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday evening’s contest, with photos taken by Dallas-area photographer Ross James. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 28 pictures in total.
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