Already eliminated from playoff contention, the Dallas Stars and Arizona Coyotes got glimpses of some of their potential future stars.
Julius Honka scored his first NHL goal 3:45 into overtime, and the Dallas Stars beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Skating with rookies Honka and Gemel Smith, Jason Spezza sent a cross-ice pass to Honka in the right faceoff circle, and his shot went high into the net past Arizona goalie Mike Smith.
"I just wanted to make their three guys move there," Honka said after his 14th NHL game. "I think they was pretty tired. It was the end of their shift, and I just wanted to shoot that puck and glad it went in.
"I'm happy it ended up like this. First goal. Overtime."
Brett Ritchie and Jason Dickinson scored for Dallas after Arizona giveaways in the first period, and Antti Niemi stopped 24 shots to improve to 17-6-4 against the Coyotes.
"Dickinson was in on two or three real good opportunities," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "And [Smith] did a heck of a job in overtime getting up ice, created a couple opportunities. Overall, those young guys really skated well."
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Coyotes rookie Christian Dvorak pulled Arizona within one just 12 seconds after Dickinson had given the Stars a 2-0 lead, and Anthony Duclair tied it with 4:27 remaining in regulation. Smith finished with 28 saves.
"We couldn't get a handle on [the puck], and that's the way that 3-on-3 goes," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said.
Spezza was one of a dwindling number of veterans playing for either team. Dallas has been without Patrick Sharp and Ales Hemsky, and the Coyotes were without Shane Doan, Radim Vrbata and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Ekman-Larsson and Vrbata missed their first games this season. Ekman-Larsson won't play in the final two games because he is on a leave of absence following his mother's death. Vrbata and Doan both have lower-body injuries.
"[Doan] was hurting a little bit this morning," Tippett said. "Just decided to keep him out. Both him and [Vrbata] are day-to-day."
The Stars' win means that neither team will have a winning streak longer than three games this season. Arizona had won its previous two games.
Dallas had lost three of four on the road, but now has won three straight at home.
In the first period, Anthony DeAngelo gave up the puck to Ritchie low in the slot, and he beat Smith with a wrist shot. Later, Adam Cracknell tipped the puck away from the Coyotes to Dickinson at the left of the goal. He sent a wrist shot over Smith's pad into the left of the net.
Dvorak won five of six faceoffs in the first period, including the one following Dickinson's goal. The puck came back to Dvorak, and he put a wrist shot past Niemi, who hadn't faced a shot on goal in more than 14 minutes.
In the third, Duclair took a pass in the left circle and beat Niemi with a snap shot to tie it.
Notes
Dallas LW Curtis McKenzie (cut above his right eye) missed his third straight game. Ruff said McKenzie will not play in the final two games. ... Cracknell's assist was his career-high sixth. The seventh-year player also has career highs with 10 goals and 16 points. ... Dickinson has two goals in nine NHL games. . Alexander Burmistrov, who assisted on Duclair's goal, has four points (three goals, one assist) in the past three games. ... Each team was 0 for 3 on the power play.
Up Next
Stars: Host Nashville on Thursday night.
Coyotes: Host Vancouver on Thursday night.
