National Hockey League
Dallas 4, St. Louis 2
When: 8:30 PM ET, Friday, December 29, 2017
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Referees: Kendrick Nicholson, Chris Rooney
Linesmen: Ryan Daisy, Trent Knorr
Attendance: 18532

DALLAS -- Given a power play late in a tie game, the Dallas Stars did not waste the opportunity.

Alexander Radulov scored two goals, including the game-winner with 2:21 remaining, and Ben Bishop stopped 35 of 37 shots for the Stars in a 4-2 win against the St. Louis Blues on Friday

On the go-ahead goal, Radulov beat Jake Allen, who stopped 25 of 28 shots, on a wrist shot from the right circle during a power play resulting from a roughing penalty on Joel Edmundson with 2:38 remaining.

"The call at the end of the game was ridiculous," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "There's scrums all night and we end up short twice in those situations. Not sure how you make that call, but it is what it is."

It was a call Edmundson also took issue with.

"I didn't agree with the call. It's a tight game, it's kind of a rough game and when you only take one guy after that, it's a tough one to swallow, but I'm not going to make excuses for myself," Edmundson said. "There's three minutes left in the game, I can't take a penalty."

Radulov added an empty-netter with 1:39 remaining.

"It means a lot," Radulov said of scoring the game-winner. "I'm really enjoying being part of Dallas and (am) thankful for the people who brought me here. I just have to be there every night for my teammates."

Mattias Janmark and Jamie Benn, who also had an assist, scored for Dallas (21-15-3), which is now 13-4-1 at home.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Tage Thompson scored for St. Louis (23-15-2).

St. Louis missed a prime opportunity by coming up empty during a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:37 early in the second period.

"Yeah, we had some good chances on it, couldn't bury," Blues right winger Alexander Steen said. "I think the actual setup part wasn't good enough, but we got some chances on it."

Janmark scored his eighth goal of the season 3:49 into the second period on a tap-in at the far post. Janmark was the beneficiary of a great cross-ice pass from Jason Spezza, whose pass came from the right corner of the ice.

"I think what was satisfying (about this win) is that we had a lot of players that played awfully well tonight," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We had a lot of contributions from our lineup. Our fourth line was outstanding. They gave us a lot of energy. The guys went back to what we were doing well. It was a good hockey game for us."

The Blues summoned backup goaltender Carter Hutton 1:21 into the third period after Allen, who had stopped 21 of 22 shots, was knocked hard to the ice after Colton Parayko was knocked into his own net, taking Allen out in the process.

"(Hutton) came in. That's not easy to do, coming in cold," Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "I had no idea (what happened to Allen)."

Allen returned to the crease with 9:05 remaining. Hutton stopped both shots he faced in relief.

"That was a bad decision by me," Yeo said of his call to put Allen back in the game. "I think I put Jake and the team in a bad position there. It's disappointing for our group not to get a win here tonight."

St. Louis tied it 3:26 into the third when Tarasenko converted a Dallas turnover into his 16th goal of the season. Tarasenko intercepted a lazy attempted clearance from Tyler Pitlick and beat Bishop far post on a wrist shot from the left circle.

Tarasenko now has 18 points (13 goals) in 21 career games against Dallas. That tally was his first 5-on-5 goal since Nov. 18, a span of 18 games.

The Blues took their first lead 1:05 later when Thompson scored his second goal of the season on a wrist shot from the right point that traveled through Pateryn's legs before beating Bishop far post.

Benn made it 2-2 with 4:50 remaining when he scored his 16th goal of the season on a backhand from in front of the visiting goal. Paul Stastny's left skate caught Allen's left pad at the far post and Allen was still lying on the ice when Benn's shot deflected in off him.

Allen left the ice with 2:11 remaining and again with 1:30 remaining.

NOTES: The Blues scratched LW Magnus Paajarvi, D Jordan Schmaltz and C Oskar Sundqvist. ... The Stars scratched C Jason Dickinson, who was recalled from AHL Texas on Friday afternoon, and C Martin Hanzal (lower body). ... The Blues played their final road game of 2017 before returning home to host the Hurricanes Saturday and the Devils on Tuesday. ... Stars G Ben Bishop appeared in his 300th career game.
Top Game Performances
 
St. Louis   Dallas
Vladimir Tarasenko 1 Points Alexander Radulov 2
Vladimir Tarasenko 1 Goals Alexander Radulov 2
Alex Pietrangelo 1 Assists Jamie Benn 1
N/A Power Play Goals Alexander Radulov 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Carter Hutton 1.000 Save Percentage Ben Bishop .946
Jake Allen 25 Saves Ben Bishop 35
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
St. Louis 37 2 0-4 3-4 20 39
Dallas 31 4 1-4 4-4 10 41
Upcoming Games
  • Dallas will play their next game at home against San Jose. The Stars have a W/L % of .550 after a win and .526 after a loss.
  • St. Louis will play their next game at home against Carolina. The Blues have a W/L % of .609 after a win and .529 after a loss.