National Hockey League
Pittsburgh 3, Dallas 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 23, 2019
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Referees: Chris Rooney, Ian Walsh
Linesmen: Darren Gibbs, Matt MacPherson
Attendance: 18532

Jared McCann scored twice Saturday, including a short-handed goal off a spin move to break a third-period tie, to pace the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars.

Jake Guentzel also scored, and Phil Kessel had two assists for the Penguins (41-24-11), who have won two straight, have points in seven of eight and kept pace in points (93) with the second-place New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division. Goaltender Matt Murray stopped 29 shots.

Tyler Seguin and Andrew Cogliano scored for Dallas (38-31-6, 82 points), which finished a five-game homestand 1-3-1 and remains in the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference, two points ahead of Colorado. Anton Khudobin made 27 saves.

Guentzel opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 15:25 of the first. His 10th goal in 14 games, and 38th overall, came when he got a rebound of a Kessel shot and sent a sharp-angle attempt inside the left post. Kessel picked up his 50th assist and Kris Letang his 40th on the play.

Dallas pulled even 1-1 at 1:03 of the second. Seguin took a cross-zone pass from Alexander Radulov and lifted the puck past Murray's glove. That gave Seguin 11 points in nine games.

Pittsburgh's Erik Gudbranson beat Khudobin from the right point at 5:24 of the second, but it was waved off -- and the call upheld upon a Pittsburgh challenge -- because the Penguins' Teddy Blueger interfered with the goalie.

McCann gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 14:41 of the second. Kessel carried the puck behind the Stars net and centered a pass to McCann, whose shot whizzed past Khudobin's right pad.

With 1:20 left in the second, Cogliano tied it, beating Murray glove side from near the left dot off of a rush.

McCann struck again for the third Pittsburgh lead, 3-2, at 4:20 of the third. He took a feed from Blueger, orchestrated a spinorama as he moved down the inner edge of the right circle and beat Khudobin far side on a backhander.

It was McCann's fifth goal in eight games and just the second short-handed marker allowed by the Stars all season.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Pittsburgh   Dallas
Jared McCann 2 Points Andrew Cogliano 1
Jared McCann 2 Goals Andrew Cogliano 1
Phil Kessel 2 Assists Roope Hintz 1
Jake Guentzel 1 Power Play Goals N/A
Jared McCann 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Matt Murray .935 Save Percentage Anton Khudobin .900
Matt Murray 29 Saves Anton Khudobin 27
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Pittsburgh 30 3 1-1 3-3 6 27
Dallas 31 2 0-3 0-1 2 27
Upcoming Games
  • Dallas will play their next game on the road against Winnipeg. The Stars have a W/L % of .474 after a win and .541 after a loss.
  • Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against NY Rangers. The Penguins have a W/L % of .550 after a win and .528 after a loss.