Stars Down Jets
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WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Dallas Stars took the hacks, the whacks and even a few forearms to the face — and simply made the penalty-prone Winnipeg Jets pay.
The Stars scored four times on eight opportunities with the man advantage and cruised to a 5-2 victory over the Jets on Saturday night.
Stars defenseman John Klingberg scored twice in the third period, his eighth and ninth goals of the season, and provided two assists. Right winger Patrick Eaves scored his fifth goal of the season in the first period, and center Shawn Horcoff added his fifth and center Jason Spezza delivered his ninth in the second period.
Stars center Tyler Seguin had three assists.
Dallas (23-19-7) made good on four of eight chances on the power play and the Jets were blanked their only two times with man advantage.
“Obviously, they were trying to play real physical and they were taking a few penalties,” Dallas head coach Lindy Ruff said. “The only way you can stop the physical play is by putting the puck in the back of the net.
“For us, we had the opportunities. If you don’t take those opportunities, then it keeps coming.”
Left winger Andrew Ladd scored his 18th goal of the season midway through the
second period for the Jets (26-17-8) and defenseman Toby Enstrom added his second of the year in the third period.
Winnipeg has lost three straight games since the NHL All-Star break.
Klingberg, enjoying a tremendous rookie season with nine goals and 15 assists, was a force all night, joining the rush every chance he got and using a hard, accurate point shot to create some golden scoring opportunities .
“I think I’m learning new stuff almost every game, and I think today was a good game,” he said. “Obviously, four points is a good night, but I think I played pretty good defensively, too, so I’m happy about the game today.”
Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen wasn’t busy in the first period but had to be sharp in the second and early in the third as the Jets worked to get back into the game. He finished with 38 saves.
Across the ice, Winnipeg rookie goalie Michael Hutchinson has been splendid in his rookie season but looked shaky against Dallas, surrendering five goals on 32 shots.
The Jets lead the NHL with 250 minor penalties, well ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are next with 217. Winnipeg penalty killers have been on the ice for 357 minutes, 43 seconds this season, nearly a complete game more than their closest competitors, the New Jersey Devils (301:45).
Ladd’s goal evened the score at 1 and re-energized the MTS Centre crowd. However, the buzz was short-lived as penalties by defenseman Zach Bogosian and Dustin Byfuglien led to two power play goals by Horcoff and Spezza late in the second period.
“They’ve got some guys up front that can make you pay, and that was the difference,” Ladd said. “I thought we were doing some good things. But it’s tough when you’re building momentum and you end up in the box.”
The Jets captain, who posted the 400th point of his NHL career with an assist on Enstrom’s goal, said it’s critical the club continues to play a gritty, hard-hitting style without winding up short-handed.
“It’s something that we need to get better at,” Ladd said. “At times, you try to wind yourself up as much as possible emotionally, trying to finish your check and involved in the game. Sometimes we’ve been taking it too far, so it’s something where we have to get better at walking that line and being more disciplined.”
Making matters worse is the fact that Winnipeg’s penalty killing unit, a real strength during the last few seasons, is currently ranked 16th in the NHL.
“I’m not very excited about our penalty kill right now,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. “That’s the big challenge right now.
“We’re not moving at anywhere near the rate of speed, assuredness in the routes that we’re running and the things we are doing. We’re slow right now, and that’s about confidence.”
