Stars Win In New York
{fshare id=6021}
NEW YORK — With the Dallas Stars, it seems like it’s never easy.
After squandering a late lead, right winger Ales Hemsky scored 1:02 into overtime to give the Stars a 3-2 victory against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who stopped 34 shots, nearly went from hero to goat in the third period.
Lehtonen left his net to play the puck after the Rangers pulled goaltender Cam Talbot for a 6-on-4 advantage. Lehtonen turned the puck over to right winger Mats Zuccarello, which resulted in a quick shot that was denied. The rebound caromed directly to left winger Chris Kreider, who tied the game at 2 with 1:20 remaining in regulation.
It soured what was a nearly flawless third period from Lehtonen, who faced 20 shots over the final 20 minutes while his teammates put just two shots on Talbot.
“I was just too nice of a guy and wanted to give an Eastern Conference team a point,” Lehtonen quipped.
The Stars snapped a three-game losing streak and were desperate for
two points after losing to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. In their two games before falling to the NHL’s worst team, the Stars allowed late goals in losses to Tampa Bay and Colorado.
“We were disappointed to lose that game in Buffalo but I thought it was a great team effort tonight,” said Stars center Jason Spezza, who had a goal and two assists. “Kari did a great job of not giving them much. Sometimes when you have a lead and you’re on a back-to-back, you just have to hold the middle of the ice and give up shots.”
The victory pulled the Stars (24-21-8) to within five points of a playoff spot.
“If you want to make the playoffs, you need every point,” Hemsky said. “We lost a lot of points when we beat ourselves in a lot games. Finally, today, we got a break. Hopefully we can keep going.”
The Rangers (30-16-5) also played Saturday as each team looked weary in a first period that saw a combined 10 shots on goal.
The game picked up in the second period, as the Stars outshot the Rangers 17-11 and grabbed a 2-1 lead.
Spezza opened the scoring with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 2:53. Center Tyler Seguin slid a pass to a cutting Spezza for a tap-in goal from the top of the crease that made it 1-0.
Left winger Carl Hagelin tied it at 1 with 4:33 remaining in the second, finishing a pass from center Kevin Hayes for the easy goal. The goal was the result of a good hit by right winger J.T. Miller on defenseman Jordie Benn. The contact freed the puck for Hayes, who found Hagelin on the back door behind Lehtonen.
Less than three minutes later, left winger Erik Cole put the Stars back in front. Hayes committed a turnover at the attacking blue line, which led to Hemsky leading an odd-man rush. He dropped the puck to Cole, whose wrist shot slipped through the pads of Talbot and just across the goal line.
This was Talbot’s second straight start in place of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who is out at least three weeks with a vascular injury. Talbot made 22 saves.
“We had a rough start,” Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. “The first period was ugly. We got better as the game went on. We found a way to tie it up and obviously we want to close it out and win in overtime or a shootout. On a back-to-back, we have to find a way to win a game. We just came up a little short.”
“We’ve got to be a lot more consistent,” said left winger Rick Nash, who along with linemates right winger Martin St. Louis and center Derek Stepan, was benched for the final six minutes of the second period.
Hemsky’s winner was mostly an individual effort, as he swooped from left to right across the top of the zone before shooting back across the grain. The shot went just inside the post and helped the Stars avoid what may have been a catastrophic defeat.
“It helps you believe again because we’ve had some tough stuff happen to us,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “To win in overtime, that helps us. It’s been a little bit of a struggle.”
