DALLAS — Roope Hintz scored in the second round of the shootout as Jake Oettinger thwarted all three attempts in the extra session to give the Dallas Stars a 2-1 victory over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights.
“Got lucky. God gave me long legs, so thankful for that,” Oettinger said of that final stop of Paul Cotter’s shot. “Just felt it on the end of my foot there, so I was hoping it stayed out, and happy it did.”
Elsewhere, the Buffalo Sabres chances of making the playoffs are slim, but they stayed alive in the race with a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Rasmus Dahlin was determined in ensuring the Sabres would stay in playoff contention for another two days at least.
The 2018 No. 1 draft pick continued punctuating what´s been his breakout fifth NHL season by scoring a goal, setting up two others and making a crucial block of a shot which led directly to Tage Thompson scoring the go-ahead goal in a the win over the Hurricanes.
“All I can do is do my best and compete, and that´s what I did,” said Dahlin, who joined Phil Housley as the only other Sabres defenseman to top 70 points in a single season. “I really wanted to win this game. I think that´s the simple answer.”
Elsewhere, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby become the 15th player in NHL history to reach 1,500 career points, scoring two goals and adding an assist in Pittsburgh’s crucial 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
“This is a team sport – that´s what we signed up for and that´s why we love this game,” Crosby said. “Maybe you get certain milestones that get you to reflect a little more, but right now I´m just thinking about our situation and what we still need to do. I´m happy to have been a part of all of this, but my mentality has always been to try to be my best and take what happens from there.”
The Penguins are in danger of seeing their run of 16 straight Stanley Cup playoff berths snapped. It´s the longest active streak among the major North American sports leagues.
Crosby has 550 goals and 950 assists and is the sixth-fastest player to hit the 1,500-point milestone, accomplishing it in his 1,188th game. The milestone came on a power-play goal at 3:01 of the third period, with Kris Letang and Jake Guentzel assisting.
“This is something only 15 players have ever done, and he´s the sixth fastest of all of them,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
“I think that company speaks to this milestone and to the impact he´s had on the game. Not only is he one of the greatest players of his generation, he´s one of the greatest players in history.”
David Perron, who played parts of two seasons with Crosby from 2014-16, has seen it before.
“Incredibly impressive type of performance that he puts up at the right time,” Perron said.
“That´s what he does. I´ve seen it on the other bench. He´s just a great guy, keeps working on his game. I ran into him at the All-Star break, we were at the same hotel. I got to spend some time with him. He just keeps working at it. He wants to keep getting better.”
