*Photo from Fear the Fin*
It was on Friday night that the visiting team said no comeback for you. Timo Meier had a goal and an assist, Logan Couture added a two point game of his own, and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Dallas Stars with a 5-4 victory on Friday night in Dallas.
The Sharks entered their road showdown having gone 0-3-2 in their previous 5 games. With Meier and Couture leading the way, they were able to snap the skid, sitting at 4-9-3 after their win on the road, which was their first win since October 27.
Sharks head coach David Quinn said of the win that "There were a lot of good things in our game, and we took a step forward in learning how to win a game. It's going to take a little time, we're still fragile from the last two weeks and the losing we've done, and the way we've done it. But we took a step forward tonight."
Jamie Benn scored first, giving the Stars a 1-0 lead on his 5th goal of the season, coming 4:42 into the game. At the 6:13 mark of the first, Alexander Barabanov scored a power play goal to tie the game for the Sharks. Evgeny Svechnikov scored to put the Sharks ahead 2-1 before Benn scored again for the Stars to tie the game.
Early in the second period, Meier struck early for the Sharks, giving them a 3-2 lead with his 7th goal of the season just 29 seconds in, assisted by Kevin Labanc. Couture followed that with a goal of his own, scoring 31 seconds after Meier did, giving the Sharks a 4-2 lead with Barabanov assisting on his 6th goal of the season.
The Sharks picked up another goal early into the 3rd period, with Tomas Hertl giving the Sharks a 5-2 lead just 29 seconds into the period. At the 6:18 mark of the 3rd, Roope Hintz scored his 6th goal of the season to cut the Stars deficit to 5-3. Joe Pavelski scored to cut the deficit to 5-4, but the Stars couldn't score again.
Meier said of snapping the losing streak that "It feels good to win a game. We've been close a lot of times, lost a lot of close games. We weren't able to close them out. Today, we got the job done. I think that definitely helps your confidence and we'll definitely take that feeling. We all love winning, and it's frustrating when you lose that many games like we have. We want to get more of that winning feeling, and we've got to continue like that."
Getting the start in goal for the Sharks was James Reimer, who picked up the win as the Sharks got back on track. Reimer saved 25 of the 29 shots he faced from the Stars, posting a .862 save percentage to improve his record to 3-5-2 with the win.
Starting opposite Reimer was Jake Oettinger of the Stars. Oettinger took the loss, turning aside only 13 of the 18 shots he faced from the Sharks in a low shot volume day, recording a .722 save percentage. Oettinger's record drops to 5-2-0 with the loss.
Stars head coach Pete Deboer said of the loss that "Regardless of what the shot clock said, I thought we just handed them three or four goals. Just mistakes or mismanagement, missed assignments. You're going to hand another team three or four goals, you're going to be in a game like that. That's what it looks like."
Up next, the Stars face off against the Philadelphia Flyers in a road tilt on Sunday afternoon, with Oettinger the probable starter. Reimer is in line to start for the Sharks when they face the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night.
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