– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DALLAS — There’s no place like home for the Dallas Stars — even if they’ve been away so long that they may not remember where they put their favorite shoes or the remote control in the house.
Jason Robertson scored the game-winning goal 4:35 into the third period before Matt Duchene added an empty-netter late as the Stars defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 inside American Airlines Center on Tuesday evening. Robertson also had an assist on Dallas’ first goal, scored by Roope Hintz to open the scoring midway through the first period.
The win was the Stars’ fourth consecutive home victory, though Dallas had not played a game in front of their home fans since January 27 as Dallas started the unofficial second half of the season — post-All-Star Break — with three straight road games on the East Coast. After sandwiching a defeat in Toronto with wins against Buffalo and Montréal, Dallas absorbed a lot of pressure from the Hurricanes all evening, being outshot 26-16 in the first two periods.
“I would like to say that the road trip we just had was a little sloppy. Obviously, we are coming back from the All-Star break and then you throw us out on the road. It was a tough road trip,” Robertson said. “It was great that we had this game to get back into it and find our structure. Every line really contributed tonight.”
Jake Oettinger made 32 saves, including stopping all 12 Carolina shots in the first period.
The Hurricanes tied the game just 13 seconds into the second period, with captain Jordan Staal beating Oettinger after a deft backhand pass from Seth Jarvis. Dallas answered back just five minutes later, as Duchene held play up after gaining the blue line before finding defenseman Nilk Lundkvist, who then circled around the Hurricanes net before finding Mason Marchment with a one-timed shot from the left circle that beatCarolina goalkeeper Pyotr Kochetkov.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday 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 31 pictures in total.
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