Whitney, Fiddler score 2 each in 3rd for Stars

[April 10, 2013]  DALLAS (AP) -- Ray Whitney and Vernon Fiddler both scored twice during Dallas' four-goal third period, and the Stars broke open a tie game and routed the Los Angeles Kings 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Whitney snapped a 1-1 tie just 52 seconds into the third, and the Stars poured on the offense en route to their third straight win.

One week after dealing veterans Jaromir Jagr and Derek Roy before the NHL trade deadline, the Stars moved into ninth place in the Western Conference standings _ two points behind Detroit and the postseason cutoff.

Alex Goligoski also scored, and Trevor Daley added two assists for the Stars, who entered the night with the worst home record in the West. They improved to 9-9-2 at home.

Richard Bachman, who had played a total of 35 minutes since his previous start on Feb. 26, stopped all 22 shots he faced after replacing Kari Lehtonen 14:18 in.

Lehtonen started his 19th straight game but left because of a lower-ody injury after making seven saves and allowing one goal.

Drew Doughty scored for the Kings, who came off a 4-3 shootout loss at Anaheim on Sunday and dropped to 5-2-2 in their last nine games. Jonathan Quick made 26 saves.

.Whitney scored 52 seconds into the final period, taking a pass from rookie Alex Chiasson and sending a wrist shot from the high slot over Quick's glove to give Dallas its first lead.

Robyn Regehr's giveaway in his zone set up Dallas' Stephane Robidas for a slap shot from the right point. Fiddler deflected the puck out of midair while in front for his first of the night at 7:58.

Whitney scored his ninth of the season at 11:06, drilling a one-timer into an open net from in front after receiving a pass from Loui Eriksson.

Fiddler closed the scoring with his fourth of the year at 13:56 when he fired the puck from the left corner into the crease. The puck found its way past Quick it 5-1.

Dallas got into trouble early when Eriksson was whistled for a four-minute, high-sticking penalty just 34 seconds in. It took the Kings just 39 seconds to capitalize, as Anze Kopitar fed a cross-ice pass to Doughty in the left circle for a wrist shot that beat Lehtonen over the glove at 1:13.

With the Kings still on the power play, Dallas nearly got one while short-handed at 2:25 when Fiddler raced into the Los Angeles zone on a 2-on-1 rush with Eric Nystrom. With Doughty taking away the pass option, Fiddler fired a wrist shot from the slot that Quick stopped with his pad.

The Stars tied it at 11:16, just six seconds after Jordan Nolan's cross-checking penalty expired, when Goligoski retrieved a loose puck in the left circle and blasted a slap shot that beat a screened Quick just inside the right post.

NOTES: The Stars honored former G Eddie Belfour as part of their 20th anniversary All-Time team. Belfour played just five of his 18 NHL seasons in Dallas, but was a key component of the teams that won the Stanley Cup in 1999 and returned finals the following year. ... The Kings are 16-2-2 when scoring first.

[Associated Press]

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