DALLAS — The Dallas Stars fourth line provided an offensive spark against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
Tyler Pitlick scored two goals and Radek Faksa had a pair of assists as the Stars defeated the Hurricanes 4-3 at American Airlines Center.
Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin also scored for Dallas, while Ben Bishop made 35 saves to help the Stars extend their winning streak to four games.
The Stars’ fourth line, which includes Pitlick and Faksa, scored in its third straight game as the Stars took a 4-0 lead before holding off the Hurricanes.
“I mean we don’t do a whole lot special. We play the game hard, we get the puck deep and get physical and just grind it out down low,” Pitlick said. “Starting to make more plays and started to get rewarded for our hard work.”
Jeff Skinner scored twice and Scott Darling made 23 saves as Carolina’s two-game win streak came to an end as it closed out a four-game road trip.
“There’s a few things. Obviously, our legs. We were losing every single race to the puck. Execution wasn’t there,” Carolina’s Jordan Staal said. “We could have done a better job in our own end and just playing heavier in their end. There were other things we could have done and had a better start if we were going to win that one.”
Benn gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 7:58 of the first period. Alexander Radulov carried the puck into the offensive zone and made a short drop pass to Benn, who fired a wrist shot past Darling.
Stephen Johns started the play with a nice stretch pass to Radulov before Benn scored his fourth goal of the season.
Pitlick scored his first goal of the season and gave Dallas a 2-0 lead at 18:07 of the first when he dove for a rebound in the crease. Darling made an initial save on a tipped shot by Faksa before Pitlick crashed the net and was sent sprawling after putting the puck in the net.
“What did I see? I saw a puck laying there and I dove at it and hit it in,” Pitlick said.
Dallas took a 3-0 lead at 5:25 of the second period when Seguin scored on a breakaway immediately after leaving the penalty box. Esa Lindell cleared the puck out to Mattias Janmark, who settled the puck to Seguin before the center scored his sixth goal of the season.
Pitlick scored his second goal at 7:46 of the period when he finished off a pass from Antoine Roussel. Roussel won the puck with an aggressive forecheck while Pitlick went hard to the net and scored his second goal of the night.
“The second goal Rous made a heck of a playing getting in on the forecheck, got the puck, put it right on my tape and I just shot it and I shot it hard,” Pitlick said.
Skinner cut the lead to 4-1 when he scored on a rebound at 19:50 of the second period.
He scored his second goal on a rebound in front of the net at 5:32 of the third. The Stars challenged the goal for goalie interference, but it was confirmed after a short review.
“He’s been doing this for a long,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said of Skinner. “He gets the puck, he works hard, so he’s getting rewarded for that right now.”
Staal scored to make it 4-3 at 15:24 of the period immediately after a Stars penalty expired.
Ben Bishop preserved the win and made 12 saves in the third period, including a key stop with 1:09 remaining on the penalty kill.
“He’s been outstanding for us this year. He gives the team a lot of confidence with how he plays,” Stars defenseman Dan Hamhuis said.
NOTES: D Julius Honka was back in the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch during a 5-4 win against the Arizona Coyotes. Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said he’d like to get back to a lefty-righty alignment with his defensive pairs. … Stars G Ben Bishop and Hurricanes G Scott Darling both played their college hockey at the University of Maine. … Martin Necas, Janne Kuokkan and Klas Dahlbeck were scratched by Carolina. … Jamie Oleksiak, Greg Pateryn and Gemel Smith were scratches for Dallas.
