Stars Lose To Hurricanes
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DALLAS — The Carolina Hurricanes’ 6-4 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday at American Airlines Center was a sweet result for the visitors on several fronts.
The Hurricanes (6-9-3) snapped a three-game losing streak, won for the second time on the road and started a five-game road trip with a positive result.
Center Eric Staal, Carolina’s captain, was front and center with two goals and an assist. He also admitted it was nice to finally leave Dallas with a win, something the Hurricanes franchise hadn’t done since Feb. 11, 1996, when the then-Hartford Whalers topped the Stars 5-3 at Reunion Arena.
“Yeah, I actually thought of that before the game tonight to be honest,” Staal said. “I know I’ve been here a lot and we haven’t had the right result. It was nice to get that behind us. Don’t come here often, but it’s a tough building.”
Staal scored nine seconds into the third period and added a second goal with 3:57 remaining.
“Yeah, he was good all night,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said of Staal. “He was good early, and he was good often. I really liked his game. I liked his line. That’s what your captain does.”
Carolina goaltender Cam Ward stopped 23 of 27 shots. Defenseman John-Michael Liles had two assists.
Dallas, now 1-5-4 at home, led 2-0 after one period. On the night, the
Stars got two goals from center Tyler Seguin and one apiece from left winger Jamie Benn and center Cody Eakin. Rookie defenseman John Klingberg contributed two assists. Benn and Eakin also recorded assists.
Carolina responded with four unanswered goals in the middle frame to lead 4-2 at the second intermission. The Hurricanes added to the margin thanks to Staal at the start of the third before Dallas broke the string with Eakin’s short-handed goal 2:38 into the third.
“This is as big a test as I’ve ever been through,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said of his team’s continuing home struggles. “It’s incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever gone through anything like this in the home building.”
Seguin’s second of the night with 7:05 remaining came after he redirected a Klingberg shot. The goal cut Carolina’s lead to 5-4, but that was as close as the Stars would get.
Dallas started strong, taking the lead 1:48 into the game when Benn scored his first goal in 11 games. Benn flicked in a wrister near the far post for his sixth of the season after a backhand pass from center Vernon Fiddler through the Carolina crease.
The Stars doubled their lead late in the first when a long-range slap shot by Klingberg deflected in off the toe of Seguin’s right skate.
Carolina cut it to 2-1 early in the second when left winger Jeff Skinner beat Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen far post from the left circle 2:34 into the period.
Hurricanes center Jay McClement, appearing in his 700th game, assisted with a pass from the Carolina zone. Skinner received the puck at the Dallas blue line and finished brilliantly with a wrist shot from the left circle that sailed over Lehtonen’s glove before landing in the far side of the Stars net.
The visitors then pulled level at 7:00 of the second when right winger Patrick Dwyer capitalized on confusion at the Dallas blue line, beating Lehtonen with a backhand for his first of the season.
Just over a minute later, the Hurricanes took their first lead when center Victor Rask blistered a slap shot from the right circle past Lehtonen for a power-play goal.
Carolina added a fourth goal when left winger Jiri Tlusty scored with 4:06 remaining in the second, marking the end for Lehtonen, who made 12 saves on 16 shots.
Dallas goalie Anders Lindback stopped seven of nine shots he faced in relief.
