Dallas Stars defeat Arizona Coyotes 6-3 in El Paso to conclude Kraft Hockeyville weekend
EL PASO, Texas - After over 365 days in the making, it was officially a night on ice in the Sun City.
Playing at the El Paso Events Center, once upon a time a stable used to houses horses, the Dallas Stars defeated the Arizona Coyotes by a score of 6-3 in front of approximately 1,025 fans in an NHL preseason game.
Jamie Benn and Joe Pavelski each scored for Dallas, and Tyler Seguin added a goal and an assist to pace the Stars to a come-from-behind win.
Coyotes' defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, newly acquired after a successful run with the Phildelphia Flyers, opened the scoring in the first period with a power play wrist shot from near the blue line. It was the first NHL goal in the history of the city of El Paso.
Thomas Harley equalized for Dallas nearly five minutes later, and Benn gave the Stars the lead with a wraparound goal assisted by Seguin.
Arizona scored the next two goals to take a 3-2 lead, but Dallas scored the final four to seal the preseason victory.
Sunday night's game was a culmination of El Paso's trophy for Kraft Hockeyville, a nationwide vote-based sweepstakes where the NHL brings a preseason game and arena upgrades to a local rink.
On Thursday of last week, the NHL brought the Stanley Cup to Downtown El Paso's San Jacinto Plaza for a photo opportunity for fans.
Both the Stars and Coyotes took the ice at the Coliseum early Sunday for a morning skate, open to the public for all to take in a live NHL practice.
The Stars, the 2019-20 NHL Stanley Cup Runner-Up, boast one of the most successful franchises of the last decade. Led by star center Pavelski, the active NHL leader in playoff goals by American-born players, the Stars had more fan representation in attendance on Sunday as the home team.
But ironically, the Phoenix-based Coyotes are closer in distance to El Paso.
The location of El Paso as Hockeyville is particularly to Coyotes CEO Xavier Gutierrez, the first Latin-born CEO in NHL history.
