The Dallas Stars had a chance to put more pressure on the race for the final playoff spot in the Central. With all around them losing, the Stars coughed up a 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Carolina’s Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves for the win.
“I’m happy where I’m at and where this team is at,” Carolina’s Jordan Staal said. “Contributing on both sides of the puck is what I’ve always wanted to do. This year the puck has been going in, which is nice. I’m getting an opportunity on the power play. It’s been a fun season.”
The Canes scored three times before the Stars got a goal from Jason Robertson in the middle frame.
“They’re big, they’re fast, they forecheck and they come at you,” Dallas head coach Rick Bowness said. “It was more us, our inability to handle all of those issues. We were half a step behind physically and half a step behind emotionally. When you do that against that team they’re going to make you look as bad as we did tonight.”
Staal scored two power-play goals, and Sebastian Aho added a single marker for the early 3-0 lead for Carolina.
“[Staal] just does what he does. He’s just consistent every shift,” Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I can’t say enough about him.”
Max McCormick and Nino Niederreiter scored in the third period to ensure the win and the playoff spot.
“We got to the game we wanted to play, everyone was buying in,” Staal said. “Everyone was moving their feet and making the right plays. Obviously it turned into some good stuff.”
Anton Khudobin made 25 saves in the loss.
“I just try to do my role here, so if I can produce offensively, [it’s] great for the team,” Robertson said. “But at the end of the day, if we don’t win, I didn’t achieve our goal.”
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