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 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.
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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."
NOTES: The attendance was announced at 18,230. ... Los Angeles D
Alec Martinez left the game in the second period with an undisclosed
injury. ... Dallas lost RW Patrick Eaves to a lower-body injury in
the game. ... Los Angeles RW Dustin Brown passed Robert "Butch"
Goring for sixth overall on the Kings' career games list with 737.
... Kings D Robyn Regehr missed his third consecutive game with an
undisclosed injury. C Jordan Nolan and C Andy Andreoff also were
scratched. ... Stars LW Travis Moen, obtained in a trade Tuesday
with Montreal, was a scratch because of immigration issues,
according to the club's website. D Kevin Connauton and RW Ales
Hemsky also didn't play. ... The teams will meet for a third time
this month on Nov. 22 at Dallas. ... The Stars return home to host
the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. ... The Kings clash for the second
time this week with the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday at the Staples
Center.
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