Stars surge past Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes talked a lot this week about taking advantage of a glut of November home games.

That, of course, means winning them.

The Canes were beaten 4-1 Friday by the Dallas Stars as forwards Ales Hemsky, Patrick Sharp and Radek Faksa scored goals and goalie Kari Lehtonen was sharp enough in net.

Sharp scored on a two-on-one rush with Tyler Seguin with 8:45 remaining in the third period for the 2-1 lead. Hemsky scored in the second period during a sequence that resulted in a coach’s challenge by the Canes’ Bill Peters.

The Hurricanes fell to 1-4 at home this season and dropped their second November game at PNC Arena. They’ll try again Saturday when they host the Ottawa Senators.

The Stars (11-3-0) rolled into PNC Arena after two off days off on the road, following up a 5-3 victory Tuesday over the Boston Bruins. Seguin had a hat trick in that road win, and Seguin and the Star’s Jamie Benn were tied for the NHL lead in points with 20 before the Friday games.

The Canes (5-8-0) had not played since Sunday, when they took a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. With extra time to practice, Peters looked at some new lines and noes power-play units — something to juice up a stagnant offense.

The Canes, with goalie Eddie Lack getting the start, appeared sluggish in a scoreless first period while the Stars controlled the puck. But Carolina’s new-look line of Jordan Staal centering brother Eric Staal and winger Elias Lindholm struck in the second for a 1-0 lead.

Defenseman Ron Hainsey whipped a pass wide of the net and off the end boards that Eric Staal collected in the right circle. Staal’s centering pass found Jordan Staal in front of the crease and Staal’s got enough of the puck to beat Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen at 3:41 of the second.

The Stars tied the score on a goal that was challenged by Peters.

Dallas forward Colton Sceviour skated in on Lack for a shot, then tumbled over the shoulder of the goalie to the left of the crease. Hemsky scored when Lack was unable to get back to his feet, leaving the net open.

The initial call was a good goal, and it was upheld on review.

Lack was getting his fourth start of the season, winning in overtime Oct. 29 against the New York Islanders but facing only 19 shots in his first victory for Carolina.

Lack had several high-quality stops in the game, denying Benn on back-to-back shots in the first period, then denying Seguin early in the second. Early in the third, Jason Spezza shook loose for a breakaway but was denied by Lack.

But Sharp gave the Stars the lead and Faksa scored the first of his NHL career as the Stars improved to 6-2 on the road and 7-2 against Eastern Conference teams.

The Stars picked up an empty-net goal late when the Canes inadvertently sent a pass down the ice and into their net.

Lehtonen has had problems against the Canes in the past — he was 8-12-1 in 22 career games before Friday. He has little work in the first as the Canes managed six shots but was forced to make some alert saves as the game progressed.

Midway through the third, the Canes’ Brock McGinn had an opening in front but Lehtonen quickly sealed the post to make the stop,

The Canes had the only penalty in the first two periods – a high-sticking call against Hainsey – but easily killed it off against the NHL’s third-best power play. The Stars had three power-play goals in beating the Bruins.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Stars surge past Hurricanes."