Stars score 3 times in 1st period, defeat Red Wings

DALLAS -- Jason Robertson scored his fifth goal in the past five games to help the Dallas Stars defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 at American Airlines Center on Sunday.

Matej Blumel scored his first goal of the season, and Matt Duchene had two assists for Dallas (29-16-1), which had lost two straight, including 6-3 at the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Jake Oettinger made 33 saves.

“I think the teams that let [losing] creep in, that’s how you dig yourself a hole. Every team is going to lose a couple of games in a row. We’ve done a good job of not digging ourselves a hole and losing three, four, five in a row,” Oettinger said. “It’s all just response. Everyone’s going to have bad nights here and there, no one is perfect. We’re not always going to have our best ... we’ve just got to buckle down and make sure it doesn’t get away from us.”

Dallas has not lost three games in a row in regulation since coach Pete DeBoer was hired prior to the 2022-23 season.

“We’ve done a really good job of stopping the bleeding. We were a tired group tonight, running on some fumes. I thought we had a good formula to win," DeBoer said. "We got some early goals, got a power-play goal. I thought we really had some good detail to our defensive game the rest of the night. Coming off the Colorado game, we were just too loose. We gave up way too much. We can’t play that way. We’re not going to outscore teams with Roope (Hintz), (Mason) Marchment, and (Tyler) Seguin out of the lineup. We’ve got to play a tight, detailed game, and I thought we did that tonight.”

Marco Kasper scored, and Alex Lyon made 21 saves for Detroit (21-21-4), which has lost three of four after a seven-game winning streak.

“I think it’s a mentality thing. You’ve got to be sharp in practice, sharp in morning skate," Lyon said. "It’s easy when you go on a good run like that to maybe take your foot off the gas. It always seems like maybe some things start to creep in, at least personally for me, those last few games we were winning, and now they’re showing up. Now you’ve got to put the foot back on the gas. It’s a good learning lesson that you’ve got to have the foot on the gas all the time.”

Blumel gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 5:26 of the first period. Justin Hryckowian knocked down a pass from Alex DeBrincat in the offensive zone and drove to the net, where he received a backdoor pass from Colin Blackwell for tap-in that was stopped by Lyon. However, the rebound kicked out to Blumel, who buried a shot from the low slot.

The goal was Blumel's second in the NHL. His first came on Nov. 13, 2022.

“It feels good, obviously. Waited from the first one over three years," Blumel said. "After last night, that one got called off, but this one finally went in. I was nervous until the next puck drop that they were going to call a coach’s challenge or not. Luckily, they didn’t and I’m happy that one went in.”

Hryckowian got his first NHL point on the play with the primary assist.

“Dream come true,” said Hryckowian, who was playing in his fifth game. “It was our first shift of the game. Just apply some pressure, create a turnover, and [Blackwell] made a great play. The goalie didn’t really bite on it, just got to the net and [Blumel] found it. It was a great play all around. Just happy to get the boys going.”

Robertson made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 13:05. Lyon made the initial stop on Duchene’s one-timer from the right circle, but Robertson spun around Ben Chiarot and tapped the rebound into an open net from the edge of the crease.

“From my perspective, we look at it from the defensive side and what we gave up. Some real egregious errors by individuals again, and the whole group pays the price for them,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “I think the first goal is real preventable. The second one on the penalty kill is one that we win a draw and, I know the puck is bouncing, but we’re down and out. Then we have another chance to kill it. We’re a good hockey club, we’re not a great one yet. Great ones can overcome that stuff, good ones struggle with it.”

Mavrik Bourque pushed the lead to 3-0 at 14:18 of the first. He received a pass from Ilya Lyubushkin on a rush and scored with a backhand into another open net from the bottom of the left circle.

“That’s a good team over there. I thought they had good intensity to start the game and we made a few mistakes that gave them a little bit of life,” Red Wings forward J.T. Compher said. “Against good teams like that, when they make you pay and they get some confidence, it’s kind of hard to build your way back in the game.”

Kasper cut the lead to 3-1 at 12:01 of the third period. Dylan Larkin carried the puck through the neutral zone and around the net before finding Simon Edvinsson, whose shot from the high slot deflected in off Kasper.

Wyatt Johnston responded to make it 4-1 at 14:09. He got behind the defense, took a pass from Robertson, and lifted a backhand over Lyon's right pad at the top of the crease.

“We saw in the second and third period stuff we can build on. That’s what we’ve got to do, build on it and be ready right from the start against Philadelphia (on Tuesday),” Compher said. “Checking the right way, being on top on rushes, picking up guys, making sure that there’s nothing easy against. When you make teams earn it, that’s when you have a chance to win. When you give up easy stuff, odd-man breaks or easy goals, it’s hard to win in this league.”