Pavelski's two-goal night carries Stars past Flames

Joe Pavelski scored twice, and Justin Dowling notched his first NHL goal to lead the visiting Dallas Stars to a 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Ben Bishop stopped 24 shots to net the win for the Stars, who are on an 8-1-1 run that has pushed them up the standings.

After a goalless opening period, the Stars controlled the bulk of play following the first intermission, and they were rewarded when Pavelski produced a power-play goal 3:22 into the second period. Denis Gurianov took the puck to the net during a rush and was denied, but Pavelski was on the spot for the rebound and cashed it in for his fourth goal of the season.

Dowling doubled the Dallas lead 6:38 into the third period. Seconds after Calgary's Mikael Backlund whiffed on a wide-open net, Dowling made his 34th big-league game one to remember. Dowling, who grew up in the town of Cochrane, Alberta, just outside Calgary, sped away on an odd-man rush, then patiently froze the goalie before depositing the puck into the cage. The 29-year-old had no points in 13 prior games this season.

The Flames received a golden chance to get back in the game thanks to a four-minute power play just before the midway point of the third period, and Sean Monahan put them on the board with the man-advantage marker. Monahan was on the spot for a rebound to make it a 2-1 game with 10:03 remaining in regulation. However, Pavelski's empty-net tally with 93 seconds remaining iced the affair.

The Stars, who also celebrated Corey Perry's 1,000th NHL game, paid a price for the win. Forward Andrew Cogliano left the game early in the third period due to a lower-body injury. Calgary goalie Cam Talbot was strong in the net during a 29-save performance, but yet again he received too little offensive support. Talbot has won just one of his five starts this season.

The Flames fell to 2-2-1 in their past five games. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)