Johnston, Stars rally past Mammoth for 3rd win in row

DALLAS -- Wyatt Johnston scored his NHL-leading 10th power-play goal of the season to help the Dallas Stars rally for a 4-3 win against the Utah Mammoth at American Airlines Center on Friday.

With Dallas on a 5-on-3 man-advantage, Johnston broke a 3-3 tie at 18:33 of the second period on a shot from the back door.

“The biggest thing for me is being ready for the puck. The guys we have out there are making plays and looking to find you around the net,” Johnston said. “We’ve done a great job creating chances on the power play. It was a great pass by Mikko [Rantanen] to find me to score.”

Roope Hintz, Jamie Benn, and Jason Robertson also scored for Dallas (16-5-4), which won its third straight and extended its point streak to five games (4-0-1). Jake Oettinger made 27 saves, and Rantanen and Miro Heiskanen each had two assists.

The Stars were coming off a 3-0-1 road trip that ended Wednesday with a 3-2 win at the Seattle Kraken.

“It’s kind of [a] tough one always, first one back from the road trip," Rantanen said. "We did a good job after the first 10 minutes. I thought even the first was not a bad period, they just got two goals. Overall, a good team win again.”

Logan Cooley, Kevin Rooney, and Jack McBain scored for Utah (12-10-3), which lost the opener of its season-high six-game road trip. Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves.

Utah captain Clayton Keller had five shots on goal in 18:07 of ice time one day after his father, Bryan, unexpectedly died.

He was named the first star after the game.

“It’s been an emotional 24 hours,” Utah forward Lawson Crouse said after the game. “Obviously, ‘Kells’ is our leader in a locker room, but also away from the rink. Thoughts and prayers go out to his mom, his brother, and Kells. He’s done an incredible job leading us and guiding us. I’ve been with him for 10-plus years now. … It’s hard news and we’re trying to all deal with it in the best way we can. Just trying to be there for him, support him, and give him the love and friendship that he needs.”

Cooley scored 57 seconds into the first period to give Utah a 1-0 lead when he finished off a 2-on-1 rush with Dylan Guenther after forcing a turnover in the neutral zone.

“I think at 5-on-5, we played a good game," Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. "Give credit to Dallas, they played a good game. They’re a Stanley Cup contender. Their power play was really clutch. It’s always a one-goal game. We need to stack detail over detail to find a way to win with consistency. Right now, we’re always one detail short and this league doesn’t give you that liberty.”

Rooney, playing his first game with the Mammoth, made it 2-0 at 12:17 on a shot from the high slot, picking the top glove-side corner.

Hintz cut it to 2-1 at 17:38 when he deflected the puck in the slot on the power play.

“I think we battled hard,” Utah forward Crouse said. “A few too many penalties. That’s one of the best power plays in the League right now. It’s tough when you give them that many looks. At the same time, we’ve got to do a better job on the PK. Dial it in a little bit more and knowing what they’re doing and try to shut that down.”

Benn tied it 2-2 at 8:16 of the second period after he pounced on a bouncing puck in the slot.

Robertson then gave Dallas a 3-2 lead just 1:02 later at 9:18, scoring on a backhand in the slot off a behind-the-net pass by Kyle Capobianco. It was his 12th goal in his past nine games.

McBain tied it 3-3 at 16:14 when he gloved a rebound down and backhanded the puck into the net from the top of the crease.

“I thought it was really good. It's a tired group,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “To get down 2-0 and to fight back like that, I thought a couple guys on the bench like [Benn] and [Rantanen], they were very vocal, and I thought young guys gave us some energy. It was a good team win.”

NOTES: Dallas recorded its fifth multigoal comeback win of the season and tied the Anaheim Ducks for the NHL lead. … Heiskanen played his 500th NHL game.