Jason Robertson scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period to lead the Dallas Stars to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. The win improves Dallas's record to 27-10-9 after a recent skid. Goaltender Jake Oettinger made 24 saves in the gritty contest.
The Dallas Stars secured a hard-fought 3-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on January 12, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena, breaking a tie with a deflection goal in the final minutes.
Wyatt Johnston opened the scoring at 3:44 of the first period with a wrist shot from the slot, assisted by Sam Steel, marking his fifth goal in five games. "You got to stay as neutral as you can, not get too high, not get too low," Johnston said. "It’s a bit cliche, but it’s important just to stick with it no matter what happens."
The Kings tied the game 1-1 at 8:42 of the third on a power-play goal by Quinton Byfield, who one-timed a backhand pass from Corey Perry. Perry recorded his 500th career assist, becoming the first player to reach the milestone at age 40 or older. "Yeah, it’s pretty special," Perry said. "I mean, you play this game long enough, the little milestones like that mean a lot."
Mikko Rantanen appeared to give Dallas the lead at 14:03, but the goal was disallowed after a successful offside challenge by the Kings. Undeterred, Jason Robertson broke the tie with 3:46 left, backhanding the puck that deflected off Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson into the net. Matt Duchene added an empty-net goal at 19:42 to seal the 3-1 final.
"You need a mucky goal like that," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. "When it’s that close, you’re looking for a one-percenter, just to try to change it some way." Captain Jamie Benn, returning after missing three games with a nose injury, praised the team's resilience: "I think that’s exactly what we needed... It’s a grind right to the end, your goalie is your best player, and you find a way to win."
Jake Oettinger stopped 24 shots for Dallas, who went 2-0-1 in their last three games following a 0-3-3 skid. Darcy Kuemper made 15 saves for the Kings, who fell to 19-16-10 and have lost three of four. Drew Doughty lamented the bad bounce: "That was super frustrating. I thought we played a really good game."
The Kings have struggled offensively, scoring no more than two goals in 23 of 45 games and just one goal for the 12th time this season, going 1-9-2 in those outings. Robertson's winner was his 35th career game-winner, tying him for seventh in Stars history.
In notes, Benn wore a visor for the first time in 1,216 games but plans to remove it next. Before Perry, Steve Thomas was the oldest to hit 500 assists at 39 years and 263 days on April 4, 2003.
