Kero scores as Stars edge Hurricanes for 2nd straight win

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Tanner Kero snapped a tie 2:52 into the third period, and the Dallas Stars beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Saturday night to post consecutive victories for the first time since the opening week of the season.

Andrew Cogliano and Jamie Benn also scored for Dallas, which won 4-1 at Nashville on Thursday night. Mark Pysyk recorded his first two assists of the season, and Jake Oettinger made 41 saves.

The Stars last had a winning streak when they won their first four games of the year.

Dougie Hamilton and Haydn Fleury scored for Carolina. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 22 shots in the opener of an eight-game homestand.

The Hurricanes had been 4-0 against Dallas this season.

The teams traded goals in the first two periods.

Cogliano put the Stars in front on a deflection just 3:41 into the game. Hamilton responded for the Hurricanes when he got a pass from Vincent Trocheck, made one slight move and basically shot into an open net at 9:33.

It was Hamilton’s 100th NHL goal, just two games after his 14-game point streak ended in a loss at Chicago.

Fleury put the Hurricanes ahead in the second with a shot from just inside the blue line. Oettinger appeared to have a read on the puck, but instead it bounced off a pad and between his legs. For Fleury, appearing in his 32nd game in 2021, it was his first point of the season.

Benn’s power-play goal with 29 seconds to play in the period tied it at 2. Stationed in front of the net, Benn collected a rebound and slid the puck around Nedeljkovic.

NOT THE PLAN

Stars goalie Anton Khudobin was placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list. He had been expected to start.

Left winger Roope Hintz and defenseman Joel Hanley also were out of the Dallas lineup with lower-body injuries.

UP NEXT

The teams meet again Sunday night in Raleigh.