DALLAS -- In the span of 43 seconds, it looked like the Stars unraveled on Tuesday night.
It took the Stars 24 seconds to unspool the Oilers.
Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov scored 24 seconds apart in the third period, transforming a one-goal deficit into a 5-3 Stars win over the Oilers on Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center.
The two goals erased the Oilers’ own quick strikes, when Evander Kane and Leon Draisaitl scored 43 seconds apart to give Edmonton a 3-2 lead earlier in the period.
The win was the Stars’ third in the last four games, and vaulted them back into a playoff position over Vegas, which lost 4-0 to Winnipeg on Tuesday night.
Kailer Yamamoto also scored for the Oilers, tipping an Evan Bouchard point shot to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead in the first period. Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski (power play) and Tyler Seguin (empty net) scored for the Stars.
Hintz scored with 5:22 left in the third period, cutting through the middle of the Edmonton defense before finishing past Mikko Koskinen. Less than a minute later, Tyler Seguin slid a backhand feed to Gurianov, who stuffed home the game-winning goal with 4:58 left in the third.
The sequence removed the sting from Edmonton’s momentum shift eight minutes earlier.
Kane’s tying goal came 6:14 into the third period, after a diving Marian Studenic couldn’t control the puck at the opposing blue line. That sprang Connor McDavid the other way, but he couldn’t finish past Jake Oettinger. Kane drifted into the slot — where Alexander Radulov, Denis Gurianov and Studenic failed to mark him — and beat Oettinger from close range.
After Devin Shore’s tripping penalty expired, a wayward shot by John Klingberg gave the Oilers a 3 on 1 rush. Ryan Suter could not stop Shore’s cross-slot pass to Draisaitl, and the puck bounced in off Draisaitl for his 42nd goal of the season.
The Stars entered the power play with a chance to extend their lead to two goals. Instead, they emerged with a one-goal deficit.
In need of a goal, the Stars know who to turn to: their top line.
Robertson, Hintz and Pavelski each scored a goal on Tuesday night, the second time this season that all three players have found the back of the net. The only other time was Jan. 12 in a win over Seattle.
Robertson scored after Jamie Benn made a play at the blue line to disrupt Kris Russell. It was his 31st goal of the season and snapped a four-game goal drought.
Pavelski gave the Stars a 2-1 lead in almost eight minutes into the second period, putting home a rebound of a Klingberg shot. That also broke Pavelski’s four-game goal drought.
Then it was Hintz’s turn, turning a backhand neutral-zone pass from Klingberg and sprinting through two Oilers and outskating Darnell Nurse to the net.
No Namestnikov: Newly acquired forward Vladislav Namestnikov did not play on Tuesday night, as Monday night’s storm delayed his arrival into Dallas. He was scheduled to land around 2 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, and he was in the American Airlines Center press box during the game.
Namestnikov figures to deepen the Stars’ forward corps as a winger that can play up and down the lineup. This season, he has 25 points in 60 games, which would rank seventh among Stars forwards this season.
Bowness was an assistant coach in Tampa Bay when Namestnikov was part of the Lightning.
“He’s a great kid, really good teammate,” Bowness said. “He can play left wing, play center. He’s a smart, intelligent player. The sneaky thing about him is he’s a really good fighter. He’s not the biggest guy in the world, and all of a sudden, he got into a fight and he’s throwing punches. Where the hell did that come from?”
Namestnikov has nine career NHL fights.
The Stars sent a fourth-round pick to Detroit on Monday for Namestnikov, and the Red Wings retained 50% of his salary.
Back on ESPN+: Tuesday’s game was not originally supposed to be on ESPN+ and Hulu, but it was added to the streaming channel’s schedule last month. It is currently scheduled to be the Stars’ final game exclusively on ESPN+.
The move coincided with Daryl “Razor” Reaugh’s bobblehead night, in commemoration of Reaugh’s 25 seasons with the Stars.
Briefly: Joe Paveski missed morning skate on Tuesday, but was in his normal spot on the top line come game time.
