Benn scores 2, Stars defeat Penguins for 3rd straight win

DALLAS -- Jamie Benn scored twice in a 1:17 span in the second period to help the Dallas Stars defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 at American Airlines Center on Friday.

Benn gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 5:52 in the second period on the power play on a shot from inside the left face-off circle. He extended the lead to 3-1 at 7:09 when his shot banked in off the inside pad of Jarry.

It was the Stars captain’s first multigoal game of the season and extended his goal streak to three games.

“We got through the first and we talked about getting more engaged in the game physically. He went out in the second period and did that,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “That’s leadership. That’s a way of showing the group and dragging the group into that part of the game which was important as we move forward.”

Jason Robertson had two assists and Jake Oettinger made 20 saves for Dallas (43-19-9), which has won three straight and eight of 10. Dallas is tied with the Colorado Avalanche for first place in the Central Division, two points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets. Colorado has a game in hand on Dallas.

“[Oettinger]’s been putting in the work on our practice days. He’s one of the best in the league for a reason,” Benn said. “When he plays with confidence, he stops pucks. He made a lot of big saves tonight. It’s good to see him play another solid game.”

Michael Bunting had a goal and an assist and Evgeni Malkin had two assists for Pittsburgh (30-30-9), which is 3-6-1 in its past 10 games. Tristan Jarry allowed four goals on 20 shots before being replaced with Alex Nedeljkovic, who made three saves.

“I thought there were instances where we needed to defend harder at our net front, and I thought we had opportunities at the other end of rink offensively where we simply have to execute and finish,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought when we got the second goal in the third period, you saw a boost from the group. There was an instant energy on the bench. We had opportunities prior to that throughout the course of the game that we didn’t execute that potentially could have given us an opportunity to feed off of it. Momentum’s such a big part of this game.”

Bunting gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 2:45 in the first period on a wraparound from the right post.

Joe Pavelski tied it 1-1 at 7:16 when his rebound attempt deflected in off of Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson from the top of the crease.

“They were opportunistic around the net,” Bunting said. “We knew that was going to be a tough area to defend. They scored a few goals there. I think that’s what hurt us. On the rush as well, they were good in transition. I think we could have done a better job of slowing them down.”

After Benn’s two goals, Sam Steel extended the Dallas lead to 4-1 at 4:37 in the third period on a shot from the high slot.

“I think it’s just little things we’ve been trying to build all year. Really grinding them in the [offensive] zone and working teams down,” Steel said of his line (with Craig Smith and Radek Faksa), which has scored in seven of the past nine games. “It seems like the last couple of games, we’ve been getting goals late in the game. That comes from us doing the little things right and grinding them down and capitalizing. It’s been a nice little stretch, and we’re just trying to create momentum.” 

Rickard Rakell cut the lead to 4-2 at 11:03 when Malkin found him from behind the net at the top of the crease.

“I don’t think anyone was quitting. We had our effort there, had some chances [they] just weren’t necessarily going to the net,” Bunting said. “[Rakell] had a big one, we just couldn’t find the next one.”

NOTES: Pavelski reach 25 goals for the 12th season, the third most among United States-born players behind Keith Tkachuk (13 times) and Mike Modano (13 times). … Robertson has points in 10 of his past 11 games (15 points; five goals, 10 assists). … Pittsburgh has eight regulation losses in the month of March. … Defenseman Jack St. Ivany made his NHL debut for Pittsburgh with one shot on goal in 12:28 of ice time.