Dallas 7, Minnesota 1
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 3, 2015
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Referees:
Kelly Sutherland, Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen:
Tim Nowak, Mark Shewchyk
Attendance:
18532
By SportsDirect Inc.
Stars 7, Wild 1: Vernon Fiddler scored twice and host Dallas used a second straight offensive eruption to extend its winning streak to four games.
Tyler Seguin, Erik Cole and rookie Brett Ritchie each recorded a goal and an assist while Colton Sceviour and Antoine Roussel also tallied for the Stars, who improved to 8-1-0 in their last nine and have amassed 13 goals in their past two games. Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak collected three assists and Kari Lehtonen turned aside 21 shots as Dallas beat Minnesota for the first time in four meetings this season.
Thomas Vanek netted a power-play goal for the Wild, who lost for the seventh time in nine games (2-4-3) and dropped a point behind the Stars for fifth place in the Central Division. Darcy Kuemper gave up four goals on 21 shots before giving way to Niklas Backstrom (11 saves).
Fiddler scored the lone goal of the first period at the 5:34 mark, taking a pass from Cole and beating Kuemper high to the far corner of the net. Sceviour ignited a five-goal second-period outburst for the Stars with a blast from the right faceoff circle at 5:03 before Ritchie set up Fiddler in front just over 2 1/2 minutes later.
Seguin chased Kuemper 72 seconds afterward with his league-leading 26th tally before Cole scored a short-handed goal with 8:45 left in the session to make it 5-0. Vanek got the Wild on the board four minutes later, but Roussel buried the rebound of Ryan Garbutt's shot for a 6-1 advantage through two periods.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Fiddler, who ended a 25-game goalless drought, has scored seven of his 81 career goals against Minnesota. ... Kuemper was yanked for the fifth time since Nov. 13, opening the door for Backstrom's first appearance since Dec. 20 - also in relief. ... The Stars placed C Shawn Horcoff on injured reserve, assigned D Jyrki Jokipakka to Texas of the American Hockey League and claimed D David Schlemko off waivers from the Arizona Coyotes.
Top Game Performances
| Minnesota |
|
Dallas |
|
Thomas Vanek 1 |
Points |
Jamie Oleksiak 3 |
|
Thomas Vanek 1 |
Goals |
Vernon Fiddler 2 |
|
Mikko Koivu 1 |
Assists |
Jamie Oleksiak 3 |
|
Thomas Vanek 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Vernon Fiddler 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
Erik Cole 1 |
|
Darcy Kuemper .810 |
Save Percentage |
Kari Lehtonen .955 |
|
Darcy Kuemper 17 |
Saves |
Kari Lehtonen 21 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Minnesota
|
22 |
1 |
1-4 |
4-5 |
57 |
31 |
| Dallas
|
35 |
7 |
1-5 |
3-4 |
35 |
38 |
Upcoming Games
-
Dallas will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Stars have a W/L % of .647 after a win and .350 after a loss.
-
Minnesota will play their next game at home against San Jose. The Wild have a W/L % of .421 after a win and .556 after a loss.
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