Harley Runs the Power Play as Stars Hold Off Sharks 4-3 in Dallas

There is a simple way to beat the Dallas Stars, and it does not involve giving them power plays. The San Jose Sharks found that out the hard way on Saturday night in Dallas, where Thomas Harley ran the man advantage like a quarterback and the Stars held on for a 4-3 win at American Airlines Center.

Harley finished with a goal and two assists, and every one of his points came on the power play. "We're snapping it around pretty quick. I'm trying to distribute, but also be a shot threat from the point. Try and keep those guys honest," Harley said. "Most of my job is passing left or passing right, and the other guys make it look good."

The game started badly for Dallas. Macklin Celebrini, the 19-year-old at the centre of everything San Jose does, carried the puck from the blue line down into the low circle and slid a pass across to the far post, where Michael Misa buried it under Jake Oettinger's left pad for a 1-0 Sharks lead at 7:22 of the first period. Celebrini would finish with three assists and a career-high 28:05 of ice time, and still end up on the losing side.

Dallas answered the way Dallas answers: with the power play. Roope Hintz tied it at 9:16 during a four-on-three, finding the rebound at the left post after Wyatt Johnston's tip attempt, and from there the Stars' special teams took over the night. Jamie Benn put Dallas ahead 2-1 at 15:17, taking a feed from Hintz below the goal line and roofing the puck into the far corner, and Jason Robertson made it 3-1 at 16:51 on another power play, snapping a shot over Alex Nedeljkovic's glove after Mikko Rantanen fed him from the opposite circle.

Benn's goal was the 999th point of his career. One more and he becomes only the second player in franchise history to reach 1,000, after Mike Modano's 1,359. "I think Jamie's playing great hockey," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. "Offensively, he's making plays and taking pucks down the ice."

San Jose refused to go quietly. Ivar Stenberg cut the lead to 3-2 early in the second on a two-on-one rush with Celebrini, and the Sharks kept coming. But Harley had the last word on the power play, one-timing a feed from Johnston under Nedeljkovic's right pad at 14:30 for Dallas' third power-play goal of the night and a 4-2 lead.

Will Smith pulled one back for San Jose with a five-on-three power-play goal at 17:02, finishing Mason Marchment's cross-crease feed into an open net, and the final minutes were as tense as a one-goal game gets. But Oettinger, who made 20 saves, held firm, and the Sharks' fifth straight loss was sealed.

For San Jose, the frustration is starting to change shape. "I thought we did some good things again, some positives, but unfortunately come up on the losing end again," coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "We're making strides these last two games." Nedeljkovic, who made 26 saves, was blunter about the effort: "I think the attention to detail, the will to work every single shift, I think it's been there a lot these last two days."

The win moves Dallas to 10-5-2 and stretches Rantanen's point streak to five games, seven points in that span. San Jose falls to 7-11-1, still searching for the win that turns effort into something they can hold on to.