JOE PAVELSKI

Washington star Alexander Ovechkin and high-scoring Edmonton teammates Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl headline the rosters for the NHL All-Star Weekend announced Thursday.

Penguins Stars Hockey Dallas Stars left wing Roope Hintz (24) celebrates his goal with teammates Joe Pavelski (16) and Miro Heiskanen (4) during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Dallas, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/LM Otero) (LM Otero)DALLAS — (AP) — Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski scored 1:15 apart late in the third period and the Dallas Stars stopped Pittsburgh’s winning streak at 10 games, beating the Penguins 3-2 on Saturday. “In the first (period), we were just giving them a little bit too much respect,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “Then I think in the second and the third, we started to play Dallas Stars hockey.”Denis Gurianov also scored and Jake Oettinger stopped 27 shots for Dallas. “That’s not my job description.”WORTH NOTINGGurianov’s goal followed a career-best three-point game (one goal, two assists) Thursday in a 5-4 shootout win over Florida.

Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski scored 75 seconds apart late in the third period, and the Dallas Stars stopped Pittsburgh’s 10-game win streak with a 3-2 victory over the Penguins.

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)DALLAS – Joe Pavelski had two goals and two assists and Alexander Radulov also scored twice, helping Dallas beat the Nashville Predators 7-0 on Friday night in the Stars' delayed season opener. Five of Dallas' goals came in the second period, including three power-play goals and an unassisted short-handed wrist shot by Esa Lindell. Pavelski and Kiviranta added power-play goals in the third period, those against Pekka Rinne, who entered after Saros allowed five goals on 20 shots. CAPTAIN HURTStars captain Jamie Benn was injured when his right leg buckled awkwardly after a collision with Viktor Arvidsson in the second period. Three of the shots game in the first period, including a wraparound attempt into Khudobin’s pads and a hard second shot on the rebound.

The Stars' return comes after 17 players tested positive for COVID-19, even though most were asymptomatic. Their first four scheduled games, all on the road and including an early Stanley Cup Final rematch with Tampa Bay, were postponed. “Right now, listen, we're all ready for a game,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said after practice Thursday at their home arena. Now the Stars are the last team to open the NHL's 56-game, division-only regular season. About 5,000 fans will be allowed for Stars games, well below the hockey capacity of 18,532, though the NBA's Dallas Mavericks are playing their home games there without fans.

After consecutive games with three-goal periods, Tampa Bay has all of the momentum and a 2-1 series lead. Dallas' top line is without a goal against Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay then went ahead in Game 3 with two goals in an 85-second span before three goals in the second period of a 5-2 win. The NHL is playing Stanley Cup Final games on back-to-back nights for the first time since 2009, when Detroit won each of the first two games against Pittsburgh, which eventually won the series in seven games. In its only back-to-back this postseason, Tampa Bay won Games 2 and 3 in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against Boston.

This is a Stanley Cup matchup for all of those who like their games to be a bit defensive. “In today’s NHL you need that for your team to be successful,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said Friday. “We're not surprised,” Stars defenseman John Klingberg said. ... He’s doing it all right now.”The Stars signed 14-year veteran Andrej Sekera as a free agent last summer, and he is finally in his first Stanley Cup Final with his fifth team. “Everyone is obviously very hungry to go all of the way,” said Hedman, part of Tampa Bay's loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final five years ago.

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2016 file photo, Canada's Sidney Crosby hoists the trophy following his team's victory over Europe in the World Cup of Hockey finals, in Toronto. The closest comparison to the NHL's summer restart is the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. You kind of have a short, abbreviated training camp and then youre right into it. It was early September 2016, and the Pittsburgh Penguins captain stepped on the ice in Ottawa for Canadas training camp ahead of the World Cup of Hockey. New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz, who was an assistant when Canada won the World Cup, considers that tournament the closest comparison because he anticipates the same frantic shifts of momentum.