The third period began with Dallas holding a 2-0 lead, and Arttu Hyry made that margin considerably more comfortable 1:27 later. His backhand goal, assisted by Nils Lundkvist, gave the Stars a three-goal cushion in Saturday night’s 4-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
That was the important shift in the game’s shape. Dallas had expanded its cushion before facing another shorthanded stretch. When Tyler Myers was called for tripping at 2:49, the Stars had to spend two minutes defending their advantage. They killed the penalty, then added another layer of insurance when Roope Hintz scored at 9:40, with Tyler Seguin and Jason Robertson assisting.
For the Stars, the finish was convincing without being a complete territorial lockdown. Chicago matched Dallas 8-8 in shots during the final period. That even count matters because it keeps the shutout in its proper frame: Dallas protected a large lead effectively, yet the Blackhawks still generated enough third-period activity to keep Jake Oettinger involved.
Chicago’s power-play chance came between Hyry’s goal and Hintz’s. A successful conversion would have reduced the three-goal gap to two, keeping the margin closer while time remained. Dallas’s kill preserved that cushion until its next goal enlarged it, an important piece of the period between the two finishes.
The closing period therefore mixed attack with protection. Dallas scored twice, handled Chicago’s only power play of the period and still needed Oettinger to stop eight third-period shots. Chicago did not disappear; it simply could not convert its opportunities into a goal before the deficit became too large to overcome.
Hyry’s second goal was the hinge. His first had arrived at 14:10 of the second period, with Sam Steel assisting, to make the score 2-0 after Robertson’s power-play goal at 4:58. The early third-period finish meant Chicago had barely begun its attempt to recover before Dallas pushed the game farther away. A comeback requires time and margin. The Blackhawks lost both quickly.
That is also why Hintz’s goal mattered beyond the final line. At 3-0, one Chicago goal would have reduced the gap to two. Hintz instead increased the margin, scoring on a wrist shot with Seguin and Robertson credited with the assists. Chicago now needed four goals merely to tie.
The Stars had built enough underneath those goals to make the lead credible. They finished with a 32-19 shot advantage and won 37 of 55 faceoffs, a 67.3 percent share. Faceoff wins do not prove that any particular goal followed a draw, but they repeatedly gave Dallas first possession and helped it begin shifts from a favorable starting point.
Dallas also went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Chicago went 0-for-4.
