In Dallas Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Kings got 24 saves from Jhonas Enroth as they defeated the Dallas Stars, 5-2.
Anze Kopitar, Kris Versteeg, Tyler Toffoli, Dustin Brown and Trevor Lewis scored for the Kings.
Anze Kopitar had a goal and assist in win over Stars – file photo by Jack Lima
“It’s that time of the year,” Kopitar said. “You got to start sharpening up. We want to make sure that obviously we’re peaking at the right time. There’s still some room for improvement, but we feel like we’re on the right track.”
The Stars got goals from Alex Goligoski and Cody Eakin.
“We laid an egg tonight, flat-out,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “We were flat. I probably would have risked pulling the goalie, even with 5-6 minutes [left], but we were flat. We would just be handing them another one. When there’s no energy, and there’s no battle, for me it’s just get through it and get out of here.”
Despite the loss the Stars are still sitting atop the Central Division.
It was a fast start that put the Kings up early and took the wind out of the Stars’ sails for the rest of the night.
“Too many mistakes, I think, mental mistakes,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said. “We give up a goal on the first shift of the game, a couple bad turnovers hung our goalies out to dry.”
Rob Scuderi added two assists on the night.
“They got the bounce on their first goal and put us back on our heels a little bit, thought they started to come,” Scuderi said. “But I thought we did a good job of just regrouping and staying with it. They’re an explosive team and if you panic too much, they can really turn the game on you in a hurry, but I thought everyone just stuck with the plan and stayed calm.”
Kari Lehtonen started in net for the Stars but was pulled after making seven saves and yielding four goals; Antti Niemi relieved him and made 10 saves the rest of the way.
“I thought they came in and played really well against us,” Stars forward Patrick Eaves said. “We paid for our turnovers, and when you get down to a team that’s structured like that, it’s hard to get those goals back. We’ll just have to tighten things up a little.”
Vincent Lecavalier hit a milestone by playing in his 1,200th NHL game.
“Yeah, he’s old,” Kopitar joked. “Well, obviously he’s been a great addition to our hockey club and for him I’m sure it was pretty special. I’m sure he’s going to remember this one for quite a little while. (I) can’t say enough about him; he’s given us some really, really solid minutes 5-on-5, on the power play. He’s been taking some key draws too in their zone, and that’s what we need from him.”
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