Roope Hintz scored once and added an assist as the host Dallas Stars used a three-goal second period en route to a 4-1 victory over the struggling Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.
Jamie Benn, Radek Faksa and Jani Hakanpaa also scored for the Central Division-leading Stars, who have won two straight games and have a 4-0-3 mark in their last seven outings. Goaltender Jake Oettinger made 39 saves, 16 of them in the third period, and Jason Robertson collected two assists.
Joel Eriksson Ek replied for the Wild, who have lost five of seven games, all in regulation, a swoon that has dropped them to the Western Conference's second wild-card spot. Goalie Filip Gustavsson stopped 33 shots.
Benn's 20th goal of the season opened the scoring 23 seconds into the second period. With Benn zipping past the defenders, Wyatt Johnson threaded a pass that found the Stars captain at full stride, and Benn converted a forehand deke.
Faksa doubled the lead at the 5:40 mark of the middle frame. Tyler Seguin led a two-on-one rush that ended when he sent a cross-ice pass for Faksa to redirect for his seventh of the season.
Hakanpaa made it a 3-0 edge just past the tilt's midway point. Another odd-man rush for the Stars resulted in Hakanpaa heading to the net and deflecting Hintz's shot for his fifth goal of the season.
Eriksson Ek's power-play goal gave the Wild a jolt of life with 1:44 remaining in the second period. A three-way passing play ended with a Kirill Kaprizov feed that left Eriksson Ek with a tap-in from the doorstep for his 19th goal of the season.
Kaprizov's assist extended his point-scoring streak to seven games, in which he's collected three goals and nine points.
Faksa failed to convert a third-period penalty shot, but Hintz iced the game with an empty-net goal, his 22nd marker of the campaign.
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