Minnesota Wild @ Dallas Stars 1-7 - 01/03

The Dallas Stars have found another gear. Winners of four straight and eight of their past nine games, Dallas got two goals from Vernon Fiddler, a goal and an assist from Tyler Seguin and goalie Kari Lehtonen made 20 saves in a 7-1 win against the Minnesota Wild at American Airlines Center on Saturday. Dallas (18-14-5) completed a perfect homestand at 3-0-0. The Stars also got a three assists from defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and a goal and an assist each from forwards Erik Cole and Brett Ritchie. Fiddler's first goal since Nov. 1 gave the Stars a 1-0 lead in the first period. Dallas then erupted for five goals in the second period. Forwards Fiddler, Seguin, Cole and Antoine Roussel and Colton Sceviour each scored to give Dallas a 6-1 lead after two periods. Minnesota (18-15-4) got its lone goal late in the second period from forward Thomas Vanek on the power play. Dallas defeated the Coyotes 6-0 on Wednesday, and scored six goals in consecutive games for the first time since the 1996-97 season. The seven goals were a season high. Seguin's goal chased Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper from the game. Kuemper made 17 saves before being relieved by Niklas Backstrom with 8:56 remaining in the second period. The Stars took the lead on the power play when Fiddler beat Kuemper top shelf with a wrist shot from the left circle off a rush following a pass from Cole 5:34 into the first period. Trailing 1-0, the Wild remained confident they could turn the game in their favor in the final two periods. Dallas doubled their lead at 5:03 of the second period when Sceviour scored his fourth goal with a slap shot from the right circle which beat Kuemper to his short side. Fiddler scored his second goal at 12:16 of the second period when he knocked a no-look pass from Ritchie in from the slot. Ritchie, who scored his first NHL goal in his debut on Wednesday, got his first career assist. It was Fiddler's first two-goal game since April 9, 2013 against the Los Angeles Kings. Dallas has had 14 different players score goals during their current four-game winning streak. The Stars scored at 9:16 of the second period when Seguin tapped in a pass from defenseman John Klingberg for his 26th goal and first in four games. Cole's seventh goal came when Dallas was shorthanded at 11:15 of the second period he scored on a pass from Jamie Benn. After Vanek's power-play goal, Roussel scored the fifth goal of the second period for Dallas. Backstrom denied the initial shot from forward Ryan Garbutt, but Roussel scored on the rebound. Minnesota begins a three-game homestand on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks. Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said the Wild aren’t about to panic.

Stars Quotes

Lindy Ruff: "I think it's been a lot of different things. At times, it's been real strong goaltending for us. Other games it's been (being) real sound on offense and defense. The last couple we've probably played as well in our own end as we've played all year, and when you spend that little bit of time in your own end that allows you to go up ice and do some good things. That's a winning recipe. [the Stars’ recent scoring depth]. Every line is playing so well. One through four, they're all playing the same way. When all of your lines are doing the right things and all the lines are producing, it's a winning recipe. Tonight was just another indication that every line went out there, created opportunities, defended really well and got rewarded for it."
Tyler Seguin: "I think it (our confidence level) is good. We are playing well when we are competing and skating. You didn’t see that as much or as consistently at the beginning of the year. It would be sporadic, one game it would be good and the other not so much."
Erik Cole: "I think we are defending a lot better and our special teams have been good. Our strong team defense can sometimes be our best asset and leads to a lot of good things on the offensive side."
Vern Fiddler: "We wanted to have a good start, we wanted to get that first goal. (Cole) made a great play to me on the power play, and I tried to get the shot off quick."

Penalties

2nd Period
05:03 MIN	Stu Bickel  Unsportsmanlike conduct against  Erik Cole
05:03 DAL	Erik Cole  Unsportsmanlike conduct against  Stu Bickel
08:11 DAL	Colton Sceviour  Fighting (maj) against  Nate Prosser
08:11 MIN	Nate Prosser  Fighting (maj) against  Colton Sceviour
10:10 DAL	Trevor Daley  Hi-sticking against  Nino Niederreiter
12:23 MIN	Stu Bickel  Game misconduct against  Jason Demers
12:23 MIN	Stu Bickel  Aggressor against  Jason Demers
12:23 DAL	Jason Demers  Misconduct (10 min) against  Stu Bickel
12:23 MIN	Stu Bickel  Instigator against  Jason Demers
12:23 MIN	Ryan Carter  Roughing against  Vernon Fiddler
12:23 MIN	Stu Bickel  Fighting (maj) against  Jason Demers
12:23 DAL	Jason Demers  Fighting (maj) against  Stu Bickel
12:23 DAL	Vernon Fiddler  Fighting (maj) against  Ryan Carter
12:23 MIN	Ryan Carter  Fighting (maj) against  Vernon Fiddler
12:23 MIN	Stu Bickel  Misconduct (10 min) against  Jason Demers