Stars Shut Out Kings
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LOS ANGELES — After enduring seven losses in a row, the Dallas Stars reversed their misfortunes the past two games.
Left winger Ryan Garbutt and center Jason Spezza scored to help the Stars knock off the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 at Staples Center on Thursday night.
The Stars (6-6-4) won their second in a row and improved to a 6-1-1 in their past eight road contests against the Kings. Dallas also avenged a 3-1 home loss to Los Angeles on Nov. 4.
“It was nice to see after the second period we played really solid,” said Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen, who stopped all 27 shots he faced. “We didn’t give them much. Usually, when you’re up two goals there are some hairy situations, but we didn’t give them much.”
Stars coach Lindy Ruff said an aggressive start by his club dictated the outcome.
“We knew we had them (coming off playing the previous night), and we
came out pretty good in the first period and had a little push in the second,” said Ruff, whose club defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 on Tuesday. “We needed the one big save from our goaltender. Other than that, I thought we played a pretty clean game defensively, where we didn’t give up a lot of opportunities.”
The sluggish Kings, who fell 6-5 to the Anaheim Ducks in a shootout Wednesday night, dropped their third match in four outings. Los Angeles (8-5-4) also lost in regulation at home for only the second time this season.
“We chased the game. We chased it from the first period on,” Kings right winger Justin Williams said. “On a back-to-back, that’s tough, but it simply wasn’t good enough. There wasn’t enough fight. Our power play wasn’t great. It didn’t score a big goal for us like we needed tonight.”
Los Angeles scored 10 goals in its previous two games, which it split, but the Kings couldn’t find the net against Lehtonen and the Stars.
“Some nights you are going to get a lot, some nights you’re not,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said.
Kings goalie Martin Jones stopped 25 of 27 attempts.
Garbutt’s unassisted goal gave the Stars a 1-0 lead with 6:47 remaining in the first period. Garbutt’s third goal of the season occurred shortly after Kings left winger Dwight King couldn’t convert on a breakaway.
Left winger Jamie Benn appeared to give Dallas a 2-0 advantage at 7:20 of the second period. However, the officials disallowed the goal, saying the puck touched the netting before Benn’s attempt.
The Stars scored a short time later, as Spezza delivered at 8:13 of the second, ripping a winner from the slot past Jones and boosting Dallas to a two-goal cushion.
Lehtonen made the game’s best save late in the second period. Kings center Jarret Stoll controlled a rebound and fired from point-blank range, only to watch Lehtonen glove the shot.
“It was one of those things that one out of 50 times you’re able to get it,” Lehtonen said. “It sure felt good, and I was happy about it. It’s not much to do with goaltending when you’re just scrambling and he ends up hitting the glove, but I have to be happy about it.”
Said Ruff, “That’s a special save, and it shows his athleticism. At the time of the game, the way the flow was going, it was a big save to maintain the lead for us.”
