National Hockey League
Dallas 2, Florida 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 4, 2017
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Referees: Chris Rooney, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen: Matt MacPherson, Kory Nagy
Attendance: 15713

SUNRISE, Fla.-- The Dallas Stars used a lucky bounce at the end and some great goaltending to break their six-game road losing streak.

Goalie Kari Lehtonen made a season-high 41 saves and John Klingberg scored with 1:07 left in regulation to lead the Stars to a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.

With the score tied 1-1 in the third period, Jamie Benn kept a puck in near the blue line and passed to Tyler Seguin, who sent it to Klingberg. His high shot ended with his 11th goal and a 2-1 lead.

Replay showed that the puck deflected in off the skate of former Dallas forward Jussi Jokinen, who slid to block the shot.

"If you good a chance, you want to try and take it. I think we got their box on the other side, so I got room to come in and shoot the puck and some time to see where the goalie was, too," Klingberg said.

"I had time to aim and shoot and pick the spot. I was going for the left side there, and maybe I got a little bit lucky at hitting the top of the skate of (Jokinen)."

Benn scored his team-leading 24th goal at 11:01 of the first period when he tapped in a diagonal pass from Seguin in the right circle past Florida goalie James Reimer, who came out to face Seguin and was out of position.

Spezza assisted on the play with a pass to Seguin from just inside the Stars' offensive zone.

Benn had a goal and assist for Dallas (26-29-10). Seguin had two assists and Jason Spezza had one.

"We did enough to find a way to win. That's all that really matters when you're playing on the road against a good team fighting for a playoff lives, too," Benn said.

"We got a lot of big saves out of our goalie. We got a lucky break on a good shot by Klinger."

"When we're being selfish, flying the defensive zone not paying attention to defensive assignments that's what happens," said Florida coach Tom Rowe, who called out forward Reilly Smith for the defensive lapse.

Down 1-0 in the first, Florida answered immediately with a power-play goal after Stephen Johns went off for tripping at 15:48.

The Panthers evened the score at 1 32 seconds later when Jonathan Huberdeau whistled his fifth goal pass Lehtonen off a backhanded cross-ice feed from Marchessault.

The goal by Huberdeau gave him 12 points in 13 games for the Panthers (29-24-11) since his return from a cut Achilles tendon suffered at a preseason game against the New Jersey Devils at West Point.

Marchessault and Aleksander Barkov had assists.

Florida goalie James Reimer made 32 saves.

"When we were on the road, we were getting the bounces and here we're not getting them," said Reimer, who made 32 saves.

NOTES: Dallas scratched LW Antoine Roussel and D Greg Pateryn. RW Adam Cracknell (lower body) missed his fifth straight game. ... LW Remi Elie, 21, made his NHL debut for Dallas after the club lost Roussel to a hand injury in the team's 5-4 loss to the Islanders on Thursday. Roussel, who was hurt blocking a shot by New York D Johnny Boychuk, will miss the remainder of the season. ... The Panthers scratched D Jakub Kindl, G Roberto Luongo and centers Michael Sgarbossa and Denis Malgin. ... Florida recalled G Reto Berra, 30, from their AHL affiliate in Springfield. The Swiss netminder was 12-14-2 with a 2.53 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage for the Thunderbirds. Luongo, injured in Philadelphia on Thursday, is expected to be out no more than a week. ... Florida hosted its final day of the three-day NHL Centennial celebration, a league-wide touring tribute celebrating 100 years of pro hockey. Fans could have their picture taken with the Stanley Cup, plus a fan arena and a miniature rink for kids to play ball hockey were also on the stadium premises.
Top Game Performances
 
Dallas   Florida
Jamie Benn 2 Points Jonathan Huberdeau 1
Jamie Benn 1 Goals Jonathan Huberdeau 1
Tyler Seguin 2 Assists Aleksander Barkov 1
N/A Power Play Goals Jonathan Huberdeau 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Kari Lehtonen .976 Save Percentage James Reimer .941
Kari Lehtonen 41 Saves James Reimer 32
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Dallas 34 2 0-3 2-3 6 27
Florida 42 1 1-3 3-3 6 31
Upcoming Games
  • Florida will play their next game at home against NY Rangers. The Panthers have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Dallas will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Stars have a W/L % of .231 after a win and .513 after a loss.