Three power-play goals and one at even strength gave Dallas a 4-3 victory over San Jose on Saturday, a result that belongs to the Stars’ special-teams work far more than to five-on-five command. Dallas won the decisive exchange, then had to protect what it had earned. The difference between the special-teams return and the even-strength return explains both the victory and its limits.
San Jose scored twice at even strength. Dallas scored once. That 2-1 split should sit beside the final score, not beneath it. The Stars created their margin when players were added to the ice, and their penalty kill kept the Sharks from turning that same busy game state into a complete reversal.
The first period introduced the pattern quickly. San Jose led first. Michael Misa finished at 7:22, receiving Macklin Celebrini’s pass after Celebrini advanced toward the net from the blue line. Dallas answered at 9:16 with a 4-on-3 goal. Thomas Harley’s shot from the point reached the net through Wyatt Johnston’s touch, and Roope Hintz was first to the loose puck near the left post.
That was Dallas’ first example of converting a power-play sequence into more than one chance. Harley supplied the initial threat, Johnston altered the play, and Hintz finished the second opportunity. The goal required execution, but it also required the extra attacker. At even strength, San Jose had shown it could make the Stars defend laterally and react to dangerous movement from Celebrini.
Dallas’ lone goal without a power play arrived at 15:17. Hintz worked the puck from behind the net into the slot, where Jamie Benn lifted a shot into the far corner. Benn’s finish gave Dallas its first lead, 2-1 and gave Dallas the one even-strength answer it would need. It did not change the underlying balance.
The Stars promptly went back to the man advantage. At 16:51, Mikko Rantanen sent the puck from the opposite circle to Jason Robertson, who beat Alex Nedeljkovic above the glove. The timing mattered: Dallas scored again 1:34 after Benn’s goal, turning a narrow lead into a 3-1 cushion before the first period ended.
That burst was efficient, not overwhelming. Only Benn had scored for Dallas at even strength, and San Jose remained dangerous with the teams skating at equal numbers. Ivar Stenberg’s goal at 2:47 of the second period came on a 2-on-1 with Celebrini involved again, shrinking the lead to 3-2 and keeping the Sharks’ even-strength threat in view.
Dallas’ response was another power-play finish. At 14:30, Johnston found Harley at the point, and Harley’s one-timer slipped under Nedeljkovic’s right pad. Harley produced a goal and two assists, with all three points arriving on the power play. Johnston added two assists and five shots. Those contributions explain why Dallas won; they do not suggest every part of the attack was functioning equally well.
The Stars’ special-teams advantage also carried a warning label. Radek Faksa and Arttu Hyry took penalties late in the second period, giving San Jose a 5-on-3. At 17:02, Will Smith finished from the back-door area after Mason Marchment moved the puck across the crease. The Sharks had turned Dallas’ own dependence on penalty situations against it, cutting the deficit to one.
Dallas killed the rest of that threat and finished 5-for-6 on the penalty kill. That was important, but it was not a single-player rescue. Esa Lindell logged 7:24 shorthanded in 26:14 overall, while Tyler Myers contributed 6:03 on the kill.
Jake Oettinger stopped 20 of 23 shots, and San Jose managed only two shots in the third period. The result came from several forms of resistance rather than a goaltender standing beneath a constant barrage.
The final power play supplied the night’s most honest closing image. Ivar Stenberg was called for slashing at 16:12 of the third period, giving Dallas one last chance to create breathing room. The Stars did not score. They finished with the earlier three power-play goals, Benn’s even-strength finish and a 4-3 lead that held because San Jose could not generate a third-period goal.
