It took a long trip down the ice by Ryan Garbutt for the Dallas Stars to end their long losing streak. Garbutt went end-to-end, passing the puck to himself off the boards along the way, to score the game-winning, shorthanded goal with 1:16 left to help the Stars snap their seven-game losing streak with a 4-3 win. It looked like the Stars were on their way to an eighth straight loss when they fell behind 2-0 at 11:06 of the second period. But Dallas got back in the game thanks to goals 57 seconds apart from red-hot Tyler Seguin late in the second and took its first lead when Erik Cole buried a Colton Sceviour feed behind goalie Mike Smith with 4:41 left in the third period. Mikkel Boedker tied it 58 seconds after Cole's goal. Then Dallas forward Patrick Eaves was called for high sticking with 2:10 left in the third, setting up Garbutt for his shorthanded game-winner. Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen made 34 saves, and the Stars killed all six Coyotes power plays to end their 0-5-2 slide. The win allowed the Stars to avoid the longest losing streak (eight games) since the franchise moved from Minnesota to Dallas before the 1993-94 season. Seguin, who had a hat trick in a 5-3 loss against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, ran his streak of consecutive Dallas goals to five to get the game even after two periods. Smith made 28 saves for the Coyotes. He is 4-8-0. It was the second time in as many games the Coyotes lost on a late goal. Defenseman Connor Murphy got to work early to make sure the Coyotes weren't shut out in back-to-back games, scoring 1:42 into the game with a hard wrist shot from the point over Lehtonen's shoulder to give Phoenix a 1-0 lead. Murphy also had assist on Joe Vitale's first goal with the Coyotes. Vitale, who had not scored since Nov. 30, 2013, when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, converted a 2-on-1 with B.J. Crombeen at 11:06 of the second period. Phoenix outshot Dallas 17-6 in the first period and 37-32 overall. After a hot start to the season, the Coyotes are 0-for-18 on the power play in the past four games, and that ineptitude with the man advantage played a big role in the outcome of the past two, when they were a combined 0-for-11. Seguin scrambled the Phoenix defense with a wraparound bid and was all alone at the post to score off the rebound of a Jordie Benn shot from the point at 17:59 of the second. Then with Murphy in the penalty box for interference, Jason Spezza's pass to the slot missed Jamie Benn but found Seguin in the left circle. Seguin beat Smith from almost the same spot as his first goal to tie the game 2-2 at 18:56. Seguin had a chance for a hat trick in the third, but he fanned on a chance in close with the net open.
Stars Quotes
Ryan Garbutt: "I was just trying to hold on to it and make sure I cleared it. I didn't really have anyone come to me, so I chipped it to myself and just skated as fast as I could."Lindy Ruff: "For [Garbutt] to score shorthanded and do it in the fashion he did … I have to give our guys credit for fighting through it. This could have been another game where it turns and goes the wrong direction. We've made some bad plays and had some bad stuff happen to us. Mentally we haven't handled adversity real well. So we give up the goal, we take a penalty … but we found a way to win. We didn't play well at all [in the first 30 minutes]. We were really tight and not skating."
Tyler Seguin: "It's great to score, but if you're not winning games, it's not a good feeling. In my first game in junior, I had a hat trick, but we lost the game. It's a bitter feeling. I want to produce, it's what I'm here for, but getting the win is the great feeling. It proves that you're human sometimes and you don't get all the bounces."
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