After scoring 13 goals in the last two games, the Stars only needed four for the win in L.A.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer came into Saturday night's matchup against the Los Angeles Kings needing one more victory to join the 600 club in career wins as a head coach.
His team was more than happy to give it to him, as the Dallas Stars completed a three-game sweep of their West Coast road trip with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.
On Thursday in San Jose, Dallas scored their first goal one minute into the game. Saturday, it was the Kings who struck quickly. Kevin Fiala put his team on the board just 26 seconds into the game for a 1-0 lead following a Miro Heiskanen giveaway. Fiala deflected a shot from Drew Doughty past goalie Scott Wedgewood, who looked as if he was caught a bit off guard by the play. It was Fiala's 21st goal of the season.
That turned out to be the only time the Kings would celebrate on the night. Dallas picked up the pace as the period progressed, getting the best of L.A. in shots on goal (15-6), shots attempted (25-13) and quality scoring chances (10-2). They did get called for a couple of penalties against Logan Stankoven (tripping) and Sam Steel (cross checking). But the Stars' penalty-kill unit held firm, going 2-for-2. The Kings skated to the locker room for the first intermission with their 1-0 lead intact.
"The kills were huge (in that first period)," DeBoer said in his postgame presser. "The goalie is always your best penalty killer and I thought 'Wedgey' was on tonight. But we had good detail to our game. We had good energy considering the back-to-back. We had a lot of contributions from everyone in the lineup. It was a good, solid game for us."
The Stars killed off another penalty early in the second period, then scored two goals in rapid-fire succession. Radek Faksa notched his third goal in the span of four games to tie the game 1-1 at the 10:34 mark on a shot from the high slot.
"It's funny, I score in 40 games three goals, and in four games I score three goals," Faksa said after the game. "It's funny how hockey sometimes works, but it's an important time of the season. Hopefully, I'll keep scoring goals (and help) us win the games."
Not wanting to be left out, Jason Robertson ripped one into the net off a Joe Pavelski shot just 18 seconds later to put Dallas in front to stay. It was Robertson's 22nd goal of the season, and missed the franchise record for fastest two goals scored (seven seconds).
Both teams traded end-to-end action, and Wedgewood made three big saves to keep the Stars ahead heading into the third period.
The Kings had the second-ranked penalty-kill unit in the NHL coming into the game, and snuffed out the first four against Dallas through two periods. Wyatt Johnston changed that with his 23rd goal of the season on a wrister off a Matt Duchene rebound at 6:47 of the third frame.
The Kings pulled their goalie with over four minutes left in regulation. Joe Pavelski made them pay with a backhanded shot from his defensive blue line to cap off victory number 40 on the season for the Stars and No. 600 for DeBoer. He becomes the 23rd coach in NHL history to reach the milestone.
The Stars dominated in shots on goal (35-27), shots attempted (67-52) and quality scoring chances (36-18). Dallas is riding a five-game winning streak, the longest of the season. They remain in first place in the Central Division (40-17-9, 89 points), four points in front of Winnipeg and Colorado.
It isn't easy to keep up a high intensity level on the second night of a back-to-back, but the Stars took control of the game after Fiala's goal and kept up the pressure.
"I don't think there was any doubt we were going to have a good performance tonight," Robertson told reporters. "Everyone showed up top to bottom and we got it done."
Tuesday will be one of the toughest tests of the season, as the Florida Panthers come to town with 92 points, most in the NHL. The Stars aren't far behind, so a win would get them within a point of being at the top of the league.
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