Cole scores twice as Stars crush Canucks

[October 22, 2014]  DALLAS -- After taking disappointing defeats in their first two games at American Airlines Center, the Dallas Stars hit the ice Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks seeking their first home win.

Thanks to two goals from left winger Erik Cole, Dallas defeated Vancouver 6-3, sending 15,678 fans home happy.

"That's a tough one to assess," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "We started the game, did a lot of great things. I thought defensively we really struggled. We had a tough time down low. We made some poor decisions that led to some pretty good chances."

The Stars led 3-0 after the first period and 5-0 less than two minutes into the second before the Canucks made the final score more respectable.

Dallas (3-1-2) took its first lead 4:08 into the game when Vancouver defenseman Alexandre Burrows knocked a pass from Stars left winger Ryan Garbutt into his own net.

Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen denied Vancouver right winger Jannik Hansen on a breakaway with 3:09 left in the opening period, a stop that loomed large when the Stars scored just under a minute later. With 2:14 left before the first intermission, Cole scored on a wrist shot from the high slot that sailed in over the glove of Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller.

"It's obviously extremely frustrating when you see the momentum swing in such a big way," Hansen said. "One minute you miss a breakaway, and another, they get back to the other end and score."

Right before the end of the first, Dallas center Tyler Seguin made it 3-0 with a slap shot from the right circle that chewed up Miller.

"I thought they put lots of pressure on us," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. "They've got good speed on their attack. They went to the net hard, and the goals, they look fortunate, but they got goals because they worked hard and put pressure on our net."

Dallas carried the momentum into the second period. Left winger Jamie Benn scored from the left circle off a slap shot that Miller appeared to contain with his blocker. However, the puck ended in the back of the net to make it 4-0 just 48 seconds after the first intermission.

"It hit my blocker and then it hit my knob, right? I couldn't do that again if I tried, line up a million pucks," Miller said. "I don't even know what to say. I haven't done that one in the NHL before. I've done a lot of stupid things, but that's a new one."

Twenty-nine seconds later, the Stars went ahead by five when center Cody Eakin flicked a wrister past Miller after a nice pass from Garbutt.

Vancouver backup goaltender Eddie Lack replaced Miller after the Eakin goal. Miller stopped nine of the 13 shots he faced, while Lack made 14 saves and allowed one goal.

The Canucks got on the board at 3:39 of the second when right winger Radim Vrbata scored from an impossible angle to the left of the Dallas goal to make it 5-1.

However, Dallas regained its five-goal edge when Cole scored his second of the game after a pass by center Shawn Horcoff deflected in off his stick 1:05 after Vrbata's goal.

Vancouver pulled within 6-2 with 6:05 left in the second when right winger Zack Kassian scored on a tip-in.

Early in the third, the Canucks looked to have cut it to 6-3 on an apparent goal by center Henrik Sedin 2:54 into the period. However, the goal was nullified when left winger Daniel Sedin was deemed guilty of incidental contact with Lehtonen.

The Canucks did find a third at 6:45 of the third when Hansen fired a wrister past Lehtonen from the slot with a flurry of activity in front of the Dallas net.

Lehtonen stopped 43 of the 46 shots he faced.

The Stars had five players finish with two points apiece: Cole, Benn, Garbutt, Horcoff and Seguin.

NOTES: Canucks coach Willie Desjardins made his first appearance in Dallas as an NHL head coach. Desjardins spent the past four seasons in the Stars' organization, two as an NHL assistant and the past two as head coach of AHL Texas, the 2014 Calder Cup champions. ... Stars coach Lindy Ruff went with a top line of LW Jamie Benn, C Jason Spezza and RW Tyler Seguin, a natural center, for a second straight game. ... Canucks D Frank Corrado, C Bo Horvat, who is on a conditioning assignment with AHL Utica, and LW Tom Sestito were scratched. ... Stars RW Patrick Eaves and D Jyrki Jokipakka were scratched. ... Desjardins moved RW Linden Vey from centering the third line to the same role on the fourth line. ... D Jamie Oleksiak replaced D Patrik Nemeth, lost for the rest of the regular season with an arm laceration, in Dallas' third defensive pair.

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