Stars Rout Wild
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DALLAS — The Dallas Stars capped a three-game homestand with an offensive onslaught, a game where 13 different players had points, including five with multiple points, in a 7-1 win against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday at American Airlines Center.
The Stars (18-14-5), who won their fourth straight and finished their homestand 3-0-0, have outscored the opposition 13-1 over their past two games after also beating Arizona 6-0 on Wednesday.
“That’s a winning recipe,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said of his team’s recent scoring depth. “Every line is playing so well. When all of your lines are doing the right things and producing, it’s a winning recipe.”
Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak had a career-high three assists. Left winger Vernon Fiddler had two goals while left winger Erik Cole, rookie right winger Brett Ritchie and center Tyler Seguin each chipped in a goal and an assist.
Dallas led 1-0 after one thanks to Fiddler’s first goal.
However, Dallas erupted for five in the second with center Colton Sceviour, Fiddler, Seguin, Cole and Antoine Roussel scoring to lead 6-1 after two.
“They played well and we played poorly. That’s how you explain it,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said.
Seguin’s first in four games chased Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper from the
game. Kuemper stopped 17 of 21 shots before being relieved by backup goaltender Niklas Backstrom.
Minnesota (18-15-4) got its lone goal from left winger Thomas Vanek late in the second with the Wild on the power play.
“Tonight, we weren’t good. There’s no miracle answer,” Vanek said. “It was a night where we didn’t have it. It’s unfortunate because it’s a team that’s chasing us and now we’re chasing them.”
Dallas converted its first power play when Fiddler scored his third of the season 5:34 into the game. Fiddler’s goal, his first since Nov. 1 against the Wild, came when he finished a pass from Cole from the left circle, beating Kuemper with a high wrist shot that beat him top shelf on the far side of the net.
The Stars went on the power play 1:01 earlier when Wild center Erik Haula was called for slashing Dallas left winger and captain Jamie Benn.
Sceviour opened the Dallas second-period flurry with a slap shot from the right circle that beat Kuemper to his short side at 5:03.
Fiddler then added his second at 7:44, tapping in a Ritchie no-look pass at 7:44 from the slot. Ritchie scored his first NHL goal on Wednesday in his debut and picked up his first assist on Fiddler’s fourth of the season.
“I think we’re just getting back to what we did last year, where we’re a five-man group in our end,” Fiddler said. “We’re starting there, and we’re a tough team to play against when we play in the offensive zone, and I think we’re getting contributions from four lines and (Lehtonen) has made some big saves.”
Seguin then joined the barrage at 9:16 of the second, tapping in a pass from rookie defenseman John Klingberg for his 26th of the season.
Cole added his seventh of the season with 8:45 remaining in the second as he knocked in a backhand pass from Benn.
Roussel punctuated the busy middle frame for Dallas with his ninth of the season, as he poked in a rebound off a shot by fellow left winger Ryan Garbutt with 2:19 remaining. Backstrom made a pad save on Garbutt’s shot but Roussel collected the rebound inside the left circle and finished to make it 6-1.
“It’s not fun. It’s embarrassing,” Wild center Zach Parise said. “We’ve got a lot of players that individually need to be a lot better. I won’t hide from that, I know that I haven’t played well the last little stretch and that’s the only way we’ll snap out of this.”
Ritchie added his second goal in as many NHL games with 1:28 remaining in regulation.
Backstrom stopped 11 of 14 shots after coming on for Kuemper.
