Hintz stays hot as Stars roll past Oilers

*Photo from Reuters*

   The Edmonton Oilers have a pretty lethal power play. The Dallas Stars decided to fight fire with fire. Roope Hintz scored, Jason Robertson scored, and the Stars defeated the Oilers by a 4-1 score on Tuesday night at the American Airlines center in Dallas.

   In order to win, the recipe for the Stars was scoring on the power play. It contributed two goals on the man advantage, plus a 3rd goal that came right after a Dallas power play expired. A big reason why is Hintz, who has scored all 6 of his goals this season in the last 6 games. He is red hot, which is exactly what Dallas needs.

   Stars defenseman and power play member John Klingberg said "I think the power play has been good the entire year. You're not going to score every time, but you can build momentum out of it. We've got two really good units battling for the ice time, so it's what you need. I think when you're competitive like that, you want to be on the ice. Both units are really feeling it right now, so it's a good thing."

   Hintz got the Stars going in the first period, scoring his 6th goal of the year and first power play goal of the night 10:59 into the game, giving the Stars a 1-0 lead on assists by Alexander Radulov and Klingberg. Exactly 5 minutes later, it was Robertson's turn, with his power play goal increasing the lead to 2-0, assisted by Hintz and Klingberg. 

   Right after a power play ended in the second period, Denis Gurianov sped into the zone and scored his 3rd goal of the season 9:27 into the second, giving the Stars a commanding 3-0 lead. 1:08 later, Ryan McLeod answered for Edmonton, scoring his 3rd goal of the season to get the Oilers on the board and make it a 3-1 game. Luke Glendening made it a 4-1 Stars lead 8:19 into the 3rd period to seal the win.

   Stars forward Joe Pavelski said of the win that "We played great team efforts at times. A lot of little things, blocked shots, things that throughout a game a team feeds off of. We've simplified a couple things, but good commitment, minds are settling in a little bit, guys are feeling the puck a little bit. It's going in the net at times. Understanding our game, we have to be patient at times, and knowing that we're going to create our chances."

   Making his 3rd start of the season with Braden Holtby still out, Jake Oettinger put together a strong outing for the Stars. Oettinger turned aside 21 of the 22 shots he faced from the Oilers, posting a .955 save percentage. With the win, Oettinger improved to 3-0-0 this season, across 4 appearances.

   On the Oilers side of the ice, Stuart Skinner made his 5th start of the season with Mikko Koskinen needing rest, getting tagged with the loss this time around. Skinner saved 29 of 33 shots the Stars sent his way, posting a .879 save percentage to bring his season total to .928 in 6 appearances. Skinner's record now sits at 2-3-0 this season.

   Edmonton head coach Dave Tippett said of the loss that "When we give up two power-play goals, actually three, one right at the end of it, you're chasing the game. Against a heavy team like that, they're going to play in front of the puck all night and you get behind, it's hard to jump back in."

   The Oilers play the second half of a back to back against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night, with Koskinen to get the start. The Stars get back in action when they host the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, with Holtby to get the start so long as he is healthy. If not, Anton Khudobin would likely start.