DALLAS (AP) Devin Shore believes in linemate Tyler Seguin – and in the hockey concept of puck luck.
Shore scored his second goal of the game to break a tie, Anton Khudobin tied a season high with 33 saves and the Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Thursday night.
Dillon Heatherington’s shot from the left point went off a defender’s leg to Shore in the left circle, and he beat Sharks goalie Martin Jones with 5:47 to play.
”That was just a lucky break,” Shore said. ”They blocked the shot and it landed right on my stick. Hockey’s a pretty chaotic game. The bounce went our way for that one.”
Khudobin stopped a breakaway by Joe Thornton with just more than a minute left.
”I dialed him five-hole,” Thornton said, ”and it didn’t lock. I’d like to have it back, but you can’t. I should have made a better play.”
Stars coach Jim Montgomery said Khudobin’s play was an example to the team.
”His will to never stop, his second and third effort I think gives confidence to the players to give that same third effort. The way he competes in the crease is the way our team needs to compete for 60 minutes.”
Dallas moved among the top three in the Central Division standings. San Jose fell two points behind Pacific Division leader Vancouver.
Seguin, the Stars’ leading scorer, had his first goal in 13 games and an assist. Gemel Smith also scored for Dallas.
Evander Kane, Timo Meier and Joe Pavelski scored for San Jose. Brent Burns had two assists, and Jones made 18 saves.
San Jose tied it at 3 with 12:14 left. Burns’ pass went to Kane at the edge of the right faceoff circle. Kane half-whiffed on the shot, but it went behind defenseman Julius Honka and slid past a screened Khudobin.
The Sharks tied it 1-all in the first period on Meier’s 12th goal of the season.
Shore opened the scoring at 8:57 when Seguin passed to him in the left faceoff circle, and he lifted a wrist shot into the upper left corner.
Shore said it has helped him to play on a line with Seguin.
”It’s incredible. He’s a world-class talent and a big part of our team. When you get thrown on a line with a player like that, you try to play the same game and do what makes you a good player to complement him,” Shore said.
Seguin and Smith scored 45 seconds apart in the second period. Seguin intercepted a pass in the slot and fired a wrist shot past Jones at 6:57. On the next possession, passes by Miro Heiskanen and Jason Dickinson created an easy tip-in for Smith.
”That was a strange game,” San Jose coach Peter De Boer said. ”I liked our first period. Then I looked up, and we’re down 3-1. We made some soft plays with the puck or poor decisions, and they’re a team that can stick them in the back of the net. I liked our push, but if you score three you should be getting points.”
Pavelski redirected a shot by Burns to get the Sharks to 3-2.
NOTES: Meier moved into a tie for the NHL lead with his 12th goal. He has scored in 11 of 13 games (11 goals, five assists). … Stars D John Klingberg left in the third period with an upper-body injury from blocking a shot. Montgomery said Klingberg will be out ”at least three weeks.” . Thornton played in his 1,500th game over 21 seasons, including 14 with San Jose. He is among 19 players to reach that total. The only current player who has played more games is former Sharks teammate Patrick Marleau, now with Toronto. Thornton’s assist on the goal by Pavelski was his 1,032nd, one behind Mario Lemieux for 11th all-time. … RW Denis Gurianov, the Stars’ top draft pick in 2015, was recalled from Texas of the American Hockey League and played in his second NHL game. … The officiating crew was one short because linesman Darren Gibbs was ill.
UP NEXT
Sharks: Complete a two-game, two-night trip Friday at St. Louis.
Stars: Play the second of a four-game homestand Saturday against Western Conference leader Nashville.
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