It is one of those age-old pieces of hockey wisdom: Be careful on the next shift following a goal for either team. For the Dallas Stars (4-2-3), a pair of quick responses by the St. Louis Blues immediately after the Stars took leads proved to be crucial in a 4-3 overtime loss at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night.
Trevor Daley and Tyler Seguin each notched a goal and an assist apiece for the Stars, while rookie defenseman Jamie Oleksiak also chipped in with a goal. Seguin's tally was the 100th of his still-young NHL career, while Oleksiak's marker was his first in the NHL. Kari Lehtonen had an uneven game in goal for the Stars, finishing with 23 saves on 27 shots.
For St. Louis, it was the Vladimir Tarasenko show. The 22-year-old figured in all four goals for the Blues, completing a hat trick as he scored an overtime power play goal to give Ken Hitchcock a win in Dallas. Tarasenko also assisted on a second period goal by Jori Lehtera (three-point night). Kevin Shattenkirk assisted on Tarasenko's first and third goals. In net, winning goaltender Brian Elliott stopped 25 of 28 shots.
Dallas played well in this game for the most part but the quick responses by the Blues after the Stars took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 proved to be critical. The Stars also took a 3-2 lead on Daley's early third period power play goal but were unable to slam the door as Tarasenko re-tied the game at 3-3 midway through the frame. In overtime, Tarasenko converted Seguin's high-sticking minor into the the game winning goal at 1:28.
Lehtonen has played well in four of his seven starts to date, has been average in two (including last night) and had a clunker against Philadelphia on Oct. 18. Against the Blues, he didn't allow any outright soft goals but Lehtera's goal and one of Tarensko's were saves the Big Finn often makes. He was not helped by some Dallas turnovers.
Oleksiak's goal, scored at 13:10 of the first period, was a shot from the right point that got past Elliott. A mere 35 seconds later, Tarasenko made the Stars pay dearly for a turnover, scoring from point blank range to even the game at 1-1.
Likewise, Dallas' 2-1 lead in the middle period lasted all of 37 seconds. Immediately after Seguin tallied from one of his shooting sweet spots -- right near the faceoff dot in the right circle -- Lehtera's backhander found the net to pull the Blues even again.
Dallas, which went 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill, notched a Daley goal on the man advantage to take a 3-2 lead at 3:27 of the third period. This time, the lead held for a little over eight minutes before Tarasenko tallied a line rush goal.
Moments after overtime began, Seguin's stick clipped Alex Pietrangelo. The Blues went on their fifth power play of the game. At the 1:28 mark of the extra frame, Tarasenko one-timed home a shot from the top of the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Shattenkirk. Pietrangelo earned the secondary assist on the game-winning goal.
The Stars will finish their October schedule with a Halloween showdown with their playoff opponent from the 2014 Western Conference Quarterfinals. The Anaheim Ducks will pay a visit to the American Airlines Center on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. tilt.