|
 And thanks to a goal and an assist each from Jamie Benn, Ales
Hemsky, Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza plus goaltender Kari Lehtonen
stopping 21 of 23 shots, Dallas prevailed 5-2.
"I thought we slowed their attack and won the special teams battle,"
Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "That was a real big team effort from
goaltender through the defense -- our young defense. I thought the
forwards did a heck of a job supporting them."
Antoine Roussel also scored for Dallas (41-20-8). Seguin had the
game-winner in the second period.
Teuvo Taravainen and Tomas Fleischmann scored for Chicago (41-22-8).
Fleischmann, who also had an assist, scored his 12th goal of the
season on a wrist shot from the right circle with 58 seconds
remaining. Ruff challenged on the grounds that Dale Weise had
interfered with Lehtonen, but the goal stood after a short review.
The Stars finished 2 of 6 on the power play, victimizing a Chicago
penalty kill that is killing 61.9 percent of opposing power plays in
the past 13 games.
"Our special teams had probably as bad a night as you could have,"
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
Backup goaltender Scott Darling, who stopped all 10 shots he faced
in relief of Corey Crawford, headed to the bench with 8:10 remaining
in regulation as Chicago tried to get back in the game with the
extra attacker.
Darling returned to the crease with 6:11 remaining and Chicago still
trailing 4-1.
Hemsky caught Darling heading to the bench again with 4:31 remaining
and scored his 11th goal of the season.
Dallas struck first midway through the first period when Spezza
scored his 26th goal of the season with the Stars on the power play.
Spezza flicked a low wrist shot from near the Chicago blue line
inside the left post 11:08 into the game.
The goal came when the Stars were 40 seconds into a power play after
Chicago's Andrew Shaw was whistled for tripping at 10:28.
Dallas doubled its lead 1:09 into the second when Roussel scored his
12th goal of the season on a tap-in from in front of the Chicago
net. Roussel received a pass from Hemsky and promptly sent the puck
high into the far side of the net to make it 2-0.
The Stars went up 3-0 when Seguin scored his 33rd goal of the season
5:06 into the second period. Spezza fed Seguin, who sent a wrist
shot through Crawford's five-hole. Spezza's assist was the 800th
point of his NHL career.
Benn made it 4-0 when a pass from Seguin deflected in off his left
skate for a power-play goal at 10:42 of the second period. The Stars
were on the power play after Patrick Kane was called for
cross-checking at 9:46.
[to top of second column] |
Benn's goal ended the night for Crawford, who stopped 16 of 20 shots
before departing for Darling.
"We matched up well," Ruff said. "Our speed has been good against
them. We've been able to create some holes and put them under
pressure. Our forecheck pressure resulted in a couple really nice
goals."
Seguin nearly made it 5-0 at 12:24 of the second period, but his
wrist shot from the right circle struck the right post.
Chicago ended the shutout at 13:01 in the second period when
Teravainen scored his 11th goal of the season on a quick slap shot
from near the post. Fleischmann spotted Teravainen open and
delivered a perfect pass, which Teravainen quickly knocked into the
open net to make it 4-1.
Dallas led 1-0 after one period and 4-1 after two.
"It is disappointing. It's frustrating," Blackhawks captain Jonathan
Toews said of the loss. "We didn't have the speed and the work ethic
in the battles in the corners that we needed, so eventually we ended
up taking penalties and ended up hurting ourselves. We've got to be
better than that."
NOTES: Blackhawks LW Brandon Mashinter, C Michael Rasmussen and D
Michal Rozsival (lower body) were scratched. ... Stars D Jordie Benn
(lower body), D Jason Demers (shoulder), D John Klingberg (lower
body), LW Travis Moen and LW Patrick Sharp were scratched. ...
Blackhawks RW Marian Hossa returned to the ice after a nine-game
absence with a leg injury. Hossa, who last played on Feb. 13 against
Anaheim, returned to Chicago's top line alongside LW Andrew Ladd and
C Jonathan Toews, who did not participate in morning skate on
Friday, getting what coach Joel Quenneville termed a maintenance
day. ... Stars D Stephen Johns made his NHL debut. A second-round
pick (60th overall) of Chicago in the 2010 NHL Draft, Johns was
traded to Dallas last summer along with Sharp for D Trevor Daley and
LW Ryan Garbutt, both of whom have already been traded again. ...
Blackhawks G Corey Crawford started his third consecutive game.
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