Cole's Late Breakaway Goal Lifts Stars Over Wild
DALLAS (AP) — Erik Cole scored on a breakaway with 4:49 to play, and the Dallas Stars rallied to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Saturday night.
Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen was injured in a collision with the Wild's Erik Haula at 6:37 of the third period. Newly acquired goalie Tim Thomas earned the win in his Stars debut in relief.
Haula was given a major penalty for charging and was ejected. Tyler Seguin scored with 26 seconds remaining in the 5-minute power play to tie the game 3-3.
Seguin also had two assists, giving him four goals and four assists in two games.
Four minutes later, Cole picked up a loose puck at center ice. Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper came out to stop him, but Cole's shot went past Kuemper and into the upper left corner. Cole finished with a goal and an assist.
Jamie Benn and Alex Chiasson also scored for Dallas.
Haula scored in the first period and Charlie Coyle in the second. Kyle Brodziak gave the Wild their only lead in the third.
The Stars, eighth in the Western Conference, moved within three points of the seventh-place Wild. Minnesota had won five in a row.
Before the game, the Stars retired Mike Modano's No. 9 in front of a Dallas-record crowd of 19,109.
The pumped-up Stars then scored just 31 seconds into the game.
Rich Peverley dropped a pass to Jamie Benn in the right circle for a wrist shot into the right side of the net.
The Wild tied it on Haula's short-handed goal at 16:32. Mikko Koivu passed cross-ice to the left circle to Haula, who scored his third goal.
The Stars regained the lead four seconds into a power play at 1:55 of the second period. Chiasson tipped in the puck after Seguin's drive from the top of the left circle trickled between Kuemper's legs.
That snapped a streak of 20 successful penalty kills by the Wild over eight games.
On their third power play of the period, the Wild tied it again. Coyle put in a rebound from in front at 11:15 while Lehtonen was scrambling.
Minnesota took its first lead 1:23 into the third. A takeaway in the Dallas end led to Brodziak's shot from the high slot.
NOTES: Seguin raised his team-leading totals to 29 goals and 37 assists. . Benn has three goals and seven assists in six games. ... Florida traded Thomas to Dallas on Wednesday. ... Forwards Matt Moulson and Cody McCormick made their Wild debuts after being traded Wednesday from Buffalo. Moulson had two assists in his previous game Monday for the Sabres, also at Dallas. He has two goals and three assists in three games against the Stars this season. He has scored seven goals in his last six games against them. . The previous attendance record was 19,099 on March 16, 2012. It was only the fourth sellout in 34 Stars home games this season. . The home team won every game in the season series. Minnesota was 2-2 and Dallas 2-1-1. The Wild are 1-14-5 in Dallas. . The Stars have scored on six of their last 19 power plays.
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