Harley's goal with 5 seconds left gives Stars win against Devils

Thomas Harley scored with five seconds remaining in the third period, and the Dallas Stars recovered for a 4-3 win against the New Jersey Devils at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Tuesday.

Harley scored on a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle through a screen provided by Mikael Granlund, who won the face-off in the Devils end prior to the game-winner.

"Up 3-1 in the third period, we should be locking it down better than that but credit to the guys on this bench," Harley said. "I thought Jason Robertson was going to pass to [Esa Lindell] but he gave it to me and [Granlund] made a great flash screen."

Roope Hintz had a goal and two assists, Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist, Roberston had two assists, and Casey DeSmith made 25 saves for the Stars (40-19-2), who have won six straight at American Airlines Center.

"Over a long season you don't want to be doing that every night but we did some good things to build a 3-1 lead but then made a couple mistakes and they grabbed some momentum in the third," Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. "Give them credit, they played hard and made us earn it."

Nico Hischier and Timo Meier each had a goal and an assist, Luke Hughes and Jesper Bratt each had two assists, and Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves for the Devils (33-24-6), who are 5-7-0 in their past 12 games.

"As much as it hurts, we got to take the good stuff from this game and move on," Meier said. "The next time we're in this situation, we got to remember how important every puck is. It's no fun right now but we got to focus on the next game."

The Devils were without leading goal-scorer Jack Hughes, who sustained an upper-body injury in the third period of a 2-0 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.

"[Hughes] is one of the best players in the world," Johnston said. "But they're an awesome team and got so many players that can make plays, score goals, so it didn't really change a ton for us. We came in with the same mindset. At the end of the day, it's what we can do on the ice."

Johnston gave the Stars a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal at 1:39 of the first period. He skated the length of the ice before scoring on a snap shot from the slot.

Ilya Lyubushkin scored his first goal as a member of the Stars on a wrist shot from the right circle at 6:30 of the second period to make it 2-0. It was also his first NHL goal since March 15, 2023.

"It's a reward for all the hard work that he's done," Harley said of Lyubushkin. "He plays the right way and probably deserves more goals than he gets."

Meier pulled the Devils to within 2-1 at 7:09 of the second with a power-play goal, a snap shot from the right circle.

Hintz extended it to 3-1 from the slot during a 5-on-3 man-advantage at 19:46 of the second period.

"[Our] situational awareness was really lacking and that ultimately cost us," Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. "The way we managed situations ... giving up a breakaway early in the game, managing the end of the second period, shooting the puck into the crowd and taking another penalty to put us down 5-on-3. Then, of course, how you manage the game at the end ... icing the puck with 20 seconds left is inexcusable. You deserve to lose when you do that.

"Obviously, as a coach, I got to do a better job of getting our guys to be better in those situations."

Hischier scored a power-play goal on a tip-in from the slot to cut it to 3-2 at 12:18 of the third period.

Brett Pesce tied it 3-3 on a snap shot from the right circle during a delayed penalty at 15:52 of the third.

"It was closer than we would have liked, but at the end of the day it's two points," Harley said.

NOTES: No update was provided on Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who did not play another shift after getting tied up with Mason Marchment behind the Dallas net at 18:13 of the first period. ... Markstrom was making his second straight start after missing the previous 11 games because of an MCL sprain. ... Johnston extended his point streak to seven games (seven goals, five assists). ... The Stars are 8-2-1 in their past 11 games against the Devils.