Roope Hintz scores twice, Stars beat Predators 3-2

Published Wednesday, December 28, 2022 | 12:43 p.m

Updated 4 hours, 17 minutes ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Roope Hintz scored his second goal of the game with 52.3 seconds left to give the Dallas Stars a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

Jamie Benn had a goal and an assist and Jake Oettinger made 26 saves for the Stars, who won three of four.

“I liked our first outing out of the break, traveling this morning,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “In the second we turned the game around a little bit, and then I thought we recovered and reset and got our game back in the third the way we want to play.”

Filip Forsberg and Yakov Trenin scored and Juuse Saros made 30 saves for Nashville, losers of two straight.

“It’s tough any time you lose a game, especially late when it’s tied,” Nashville coach John Hynes said. “Every time you lose it, it stings, but I think it stings a little bit harder at the end, like where you fought back and did some things and found a way to be a tie game at that point in the game. To walk away with nothing is disappointing.”

In the final minute, Hintz found a loose ball on the right side and fired it past Saros.

“I was waiting there for that jump,” Hintz said. “When it came, I just tried to get it as high as possible.”

Benn scored the game’s first goal at 1:19 of the first period.

Tyler Seguin forced a turnover inside the Nashville blue line and the ball came to Benn, who wristed it past Saros on the glove side for his 14th goal.

The goal was the 343rd of Benn’s career, tying him for second on the franchise’s scoring list. Mike Modano holds the franchise record with 434.

Forsberg made the score 1-1 at 56 seconds of the second.

With the teams skating 4-on-4, Mattias Ekholm fed a pass off the boards to Alexandre Carrier, whose shot was deflected aside by Oettinger, but Forsberg was there to bury the rebound.

With Dallas on the power play, Hintz redirected Jason Robertson’s shot from the center of the blue line to give the Stars a 2-1 lead at 2:15 of the second.

Robertson extended his point streak to five games. He has one goal and seven assists during that span.

Trenin equalized again at 8:15 of the second with a shorthanded goal from a handball from the box that went just under the crossbar.

NHL DEBUT

Stars left winger Frederik Olofsson made his NHL debut. The 26-year-old Olofsson became the third star to make his NHL debut eight years after being drafted.

Olofsson was selected in the fourth round (98th overall) in 2014 by the Chicago Blackhawks. He had three shots on goal in the game in 9:16 of ice time.

“I thought he was good,” DeBoer said. “I think that’s what we’re looking for in a guy coming in and in the lineup. He was solid defensively, created some things offensively. He didn’t get as much ice time as I would have liked or maybe deserved, but he can build on that.”

OH HEART

Predators forward Matt Duchene lost it for what the team called, “Baby Reasons.” Duchene and wife Ashley welcomed daughter Ellie Jo into the world earlier in the day.

Before the break, Duchene scored a goal in each of his last four games, tying a career high. Duchene scored in four straight two more times in his career.

WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT

Predators: At Anaheim Friday night.

Stars: At Minnesota Thursday night

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