Jamie Oleksiak's third-period goal gave the Dallas Stars a 3-2 win over the visiting Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.
It was only the second goal of the season for Oleksiak, yet the low-scoring defenseman's attempt from the slot found its way past Coyotes goalie Adin Hill 11:38 into the final frame.
The victory tied Dallas with the St. Louis Blues on points for first place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference, though the Blues still hold a tiebreaker over the Stars. Dallas is 5-0-1 over its last six games, and 7-1-2 in its last 10.
The Stars are 11-1-0 in their last 12 games overall against the Coyotes, and are a perfect 13-0-0 on home ice against Arizona dating back to March 2012.
Ben Bishop saved 39 of 41 shots to record his 21st victory of the season.
The Stars were 2-for-2 on power-play chances, as goals from Corey Perry and Radek Faksa continued the roll for Dallas' red-hot power-play unit. The Stars are 11-for-29 with the extra attacker over their last nine games, and have scored at least one power-play goal in eight of those nine outings.
Denis Gurianov had two assists for Dallas. Perry also had a two-point night, collecting an assist and scoring the game's opening goal 2:19 into the first period.
Stars captain Jamie Benn bodychecked Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson into the boards from behind at 10:27 of the second period, leading to Benn's ejection on a game misconduct penalty. Ekman-Larsson sat out the remainder of the second period, but returned to action in the third.
Taylor Hall scored on the Arizona power play after Benn's penalty, as Hall converted his ninth goal in 28 games since being traded to the Coyotes.
After Faksa restored the Stars' lead 16:01 into the second period, Christian Fischer equalized again for the Coyotes less than two minutes later. The goal snapped a 22-game scoring drought for Fischer.
Hill stopped 30 of 33 shots and suffered another hard-luck defeat. Despite a .920 save percentage over his last six appearances, Hill is 0-3-2 over that stretch.
--Field Level Media
