Stars Defeat Hurricanes
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DALLAS – Not even a 19-day break could derail the Dallas Stars’ recent good form. Dallas, which went 6-2-1 in their last nine games before the 2014 Sochi Olympics, received a three-point performance (goal, two assists) from center and captain Jamie Benn in the Stars’ 4-1 win on Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes at American Airlines Center.
“I’d give our team an A-plus tonight, for their skating, their compete level and being able to get down in the trenches,” Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said.
Dallas (28-21-10, 66 points), which beat Phoenix 2-1 in its previous game on Feb. 8, led 2-0 just over six minutes into the game after goals by center Tyler Seguin and defenseman Brenden Dillon.
Goalie Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves for Dallas, which started a three-game homestand on a high note with two shorthanded goals.
Dallas struck first when Seguin scored his 25th of the season off a one-timer from the left circle 3:18 into the game. Stars rookie right wing Valeri Nichushkin fed Seguin with a backhand cross-ice pass from the
right side of the ice. Seguin’s shot, which came on Dallas’ first attempt of the game, beat Carolina goalie Anton Khudobin short side.
The Stars went ahead 2-0 at 6:13 when Dillon fired a wrister over Khudobin’s glove from the high slot. Dallas was shorthanded after center Cody Eakin was called for delay of game at 4:57. Benn picked up his second assist of the game on Dillon’s sixth goal of the season.
Carolina’s lone goal of the evening came early in the second period when center Eric Staal beat Lehtonen short side with a wrister from the red line for his 16th of the season. Staal’s goal 2:42 into the third, came after his attempt glanced off Lehtonen’s left pad before going through the five-hole.
Dallas added an empty-net goal from Eakin with 55.9 seconds remaining.
Early in the second, Carolina lost right wing Alexander Semin for the rest of the game when he sustained a lower-body injury during his first shift of the period. Semin had been skating on the Hurricanes’ top line alongside left wing Jiri Tlusty and Staal.
“Well it’s tough (to lose him) because he’s been our hottest forward in the last 15-20 games,” Carolina head coach Kirk Muller said. “He’s a big part of this team, and when we’re not scoring a lot, we miss that firepower from him. It was tough losing him, but our other guys have to step up and go out there.”
Late in the second, Benn added a shorthanded goal, his 23rd of the season, after collecting the puck in the Stars’ end and dashing up the ice before slipping a shot under Khudobin to make it 3-0.
Benn gained possession after Carolina left wing Nathan Gerbe whiffed on an attempted pass in the Stars’ end. Benn collected the puck and rushed through the middle of the ice, splitting Carolina defensemen Andrej Sekera and Justin Faulk before sending in a wrister near the far post.
“I thought our team played great,” Benn said. “We came out in the first and I thought we took it to them. We got the first goal and we kept rolling from there.”
Tempers flared early in the third after Dallas left wing Antoine Roussel earned a charging major and a game misconduct after going hard into Khudobin at 5:36. Carolina defenseman Ron Hainsey earned a minor penalty for instigating, a fighting major for dropping the gloves with Roussel and a 10-minute misconduct for his role in the scrum.
Carolina (26-24-9, 61 points), which lost 3-2 to the Sabres in Buffalo on Tuesday, fell to 0-2-0 through two games of their current five-game road trip.
Khudobin robbed Seguin with 6:27 remaining, denying his one-timer from the right circle with his blocker. He made another key stop on Dallas left wing Ray Whitney at the near post with 3:39 remaining.
Khudobin left the ice with 1:22 remaining and stopped 30 shots for the Hurricanes.
