The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals inspired the Dallas Stars and New York Rangers.
A night after the Pens and Caps combined for 15 goals in a bananas 8-7 overtime win for Pittsburgh, the Stars and Rangers put on an offensive show - or lack of defensive show - at Madison Square Garden.
A 1-0 Rangers lead turned into a 3-1 Stars lead after 20 minutes. New York cut a 4-1 deficit to 4-3 with half the game to play, before Dallas scored three goals to close out the second period, chasing Henrik Lundqvist in the process.
The Blueshirts made it close in the third, Dallas' 7-3 lead evaporating into a 7-6 advantage, and that's how the game ended.
Lundqvist left after stopping only 20 of 27 shots, while Stars starter Antti Niemi was pulled in the third period; he made only 22 saves on 28 shots.
Naturally, the replacements, Kari Lehtonen and Magnus Hellberg, were perfect, the former stopping all 12 shots he faced and the latter four.
Mika Zibanejad scored twice in his return to the lineup from a broken leg, while Mats Zuccarello and Pavel Buchnevich each finished with three points.
For Dallas, Patrick Sharp scored twice, while Patrick Eaves and Jamie Benn each finished with a goal and two assists.
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