Martin Necas was the hero in overtime for the Carolina Hurricanes as they defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Wednesday night. It was the second straight game that the Stars had fallen in extra time, losing to the Buffalo Sabres by the same score on Monday night.
In this battle between the leaders of the Central and Metropolitan divisions, there was no surprise in it being an even contest. Sebastian Aho broke the ice with a shorthanded goal in the first period to give Carolina a 1-0 lead. By the end of the period however, it was Dallas who was in the lead.
Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson both found twine to give the Stars a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. Robertson’s goal was his 33rd, tying him with Buffalo’s Tage Thompson for third place on the NHL leaderboard for goals scored this season.
Things then went from bad to worse for the Hurricanes, as starting goaltender Frederik Andersen left the game with an upper-body injury. Antti Raanta would take over for Andersen in net.
Despite the Hurricanes losing their starting goalie and being down on the scoreboard, they responded early in the second period. 37-year-old Brent Burns showed that he still has a rocket of a shot, blasting the puck past Stars netminder Jake Oettinger to tie the game at two. That was the only goal of the second period, and the third saw Raanta and Oettinger make some great saves to send the game into overtime.
In overtime, Necas netted his 19th goal of the season to gain the extra point for Carolina. It was the ninth overtime/shootout loss for Dallas, tying them with the Calgary Flames for second most in the NHL. Up on deck for Dallas is a date with the New Jersey Devils on Friday night, where the Stars will look to get back in the win column on the fourth game of an eight game homestand. The Hurricanes will also be in action on Friday against the San Jose Sharks at home in Raleigh.
Stars fall in overtime again against Hurricanes
