Dallas Stars 4-3 San Jose Sharks: the 60 seconds that decided it

Highlights

▶Key

Sixty seconds. That is how long Dallas needed to stretch a 1-1 game into a 3-1 lead, Jamie Benn scoring at minute 16 and Jason Robertson following at minute 17. The Stars never trailed again, and after a scoreless third period the scoreboard at American Airlines Center read 4-3.

San Jose had gone ahead first, Michael Misa finishing at minute 8 off a Macklin Celebrini feed. Roope Hintz levelled two minutes later thanks to Thomas Harley, and then the night flipped. Benn made it 2-1 at 16, Robertson 3-1 at 17. The frame also packed in seven two-minute penalties, four of them on the Stars, but the hosts still held a two-goal cushion at the horn.

A second period laced with eight more penalties kept the flow ragged. Ivar Stenberg pulled one back at minute 23, Eric Pohlkamp assisting, before Harley struck at 35 to restore the gap, Wyatt Johnston credited on the play. Will Smith answered at 38 through Mason Marchment, and that proved the last goal: neither side scored in the third. Special teams framed the margin, Dallas going 3-for-5 on the power play while San Jose managed 1-for-6.

Thomas Harley was the game's engine: one goal, two assists, a hand in three of Dallas's four goals — and still a minus-2 on the sheet, a defenseman's night in full. Roope Hintz added a goal and an assist, Mikko Rantanen two helpers and four penalty minutes. For San Jose, Macklin Celebrini assisted on all three Shark goals and fired six shots, while Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 26 in a beaten net.

A 60 percent power play sitting next to a 17 percent one usually writes the ending. In Dallas, it did.