Scandella returns, but Wild lose to Stars 3-2 in OT

But in their fourth game without injured Zach Parise, the Wild and Devan Dubnyk did a quality job bottling up the dynamic duo, but it was defenseman John Klingberg, the NHL’s leading scorer among defensemen, who had a three-point night, including the victor in overtime to give Dallas a 3-2 win.

Stars: With Dallas on the power play in the third period, Klingbberg fired a shot from the point and Jamie Benn tipped it in for his 12 goal of the season.

“I saw Jamie (Benn) bump the puck to (Seguin)”, Klingberg said. “I was just trying to find an open lane for (Seguin) to find me there, and he was making a good saucer pass. It was pretty empty, and it was fun to see it go in”.

Dallas’ other two goals came on shots by the 23-year-old Klingberg that his teammates tipped in.

“It was one heck of a hockey game”, Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff told Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge. “So now you get to write a story about John, which is well deserved”.

Devan Dubnyk was again very good last night and he is the backbone of this team. “There should be a separate category for goals against”.

The Stars move to a franchise-best 14-4-0 after 18 games, and get a big win over a Central Division rival. Jason Spezza netted his sixth goal of the season. “To battle back, yeah it’s a good thing and like I said, that point is going to be huge down the road”. After an offseason filled with improvement in all three areas, the odds were certainly more in the Stars favor than in 2014-2015. “We want to play against the best teams throughout the year, and we’ve got a bunch of them in our division….”

It remained 1-1 after two periods.

Dubnyk made several key saves after giving up a goal in the first. David Schlemko, Bobby Farnham and Lee Stempniak also scored for surprising New Jersey, which has won four of five. He tied the game at 7:05 of the third period with his third goal of the season.

Not long ago, the Wild snapped a 10-year, 16-consecutive loss string at the Hanger that is American Airlines Center, so the Wild have never really been too comfortable in Dallas.

Sharks 2, Sabres 1, OT: Patrick Marleau scored by converting a rebound 2:59 into overtime, and San Jose beat Buffalo to end an eight-game skid against the Sabres. Dallas was 2 for 4 on its power plays, while Winnipeg was 0 for 4.

Rangers 2, Senators 1, SO: Ottawa native Dan Boyle scored the shootout victor, and NY beat Ottawa. Wheeler has 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in 13 games against the Stars…. Rinne recorded his second shutout of the season and 38th of his career.

The Wild didn’t seem to have it in the first period. The Maple Leafs last won three straight during a six-game streak last December. Minnesota would tie it up around five minutes later with a goal from Marco Scandella.

ABOUT THE WILD (10-3-2): Mikael Granlund has notched an assist in two straight contests after being held off the scoresheet in each of his previous five. This goal was equalized a period later by Nino Niederreiter. Even though the Wild finished 3-for-4 on the penalty kill on the stat sheet, the Dallas power play was basically 50 percent because Chris Porter hadn’t made it back into the play to make a difference.