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Parise's four points lead Devils past Stars

Dec 17, 2011 - 5:28 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Zach Parise had a goal and three assists to help the New Jersey Devils take a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars in a big night for the club at Prudential Center.

In a pregame ceremony, the Devils retired former defenseman Scott Niedermayer's No. 27 jersey. He won three Stanley Cups with the team and joins former teammates Scott Stevens (No. 4) and Ken Daneyko (No. 3) as the only players to have their jerseys retired by the organization.

"It was a lot of fun out there," said Niedermayer. "I have many good memories here and to get the welcome I got here tonight it felt really special. It made me feel really good."

Petr Sykora, Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias all had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who have won three straight. Johan Hedberg turned aside 33-of-36 shots in the win.

"We're definitely playing better and playing smarter," said Parise. "Speaking for myself, I'm playing much better from earlier in the season, feeling good out there lately."

Brenden Morrow, Toby Petersen and Michael Ryder all had goals for the Stars, who had a three-game winning streak stopped. Richard Bachman was torched for all six goals on 31 shots.

"We think there was some learning lessons from tonight," said Dallas head coach Glen Gulutzan. "But it's learning from games like this that you grow as a team."

Dallas scored the initial goal of the game when Ryder snapped home a rebound in the slot at the 8:40 mark of the first.

However, the Devils tied the game with 4:17 to play in the first frame when David Clarkson's shot from a sharp angle at the left side snuck into the net.

Dallas again took the lead on Morrow's one-timer at the right side off a feed from Mike Ribeiro 1:38 into the second, but the Devils scored the next four goals.

Skating shorthanded, Parise picked the pocket of Stephane Robidas in the neutral zone and skated the other way. From the left wing, he chipped the puck over to the slot where Adam Henrique one-timed it home at the 3:35 mark.

Just over 12 minutes into the second, Kovalchuk's heavy wrister from the left circle got past Bachman and Sykora scored on a rebound in the slot with 1:27 left in the second for a 4-2 lead.

Parise made it a 5-2 game on a redirect of an Adam Larsson pass in the slot 9:19 into the third.

Petersen scored with 5:50 left to give the Stars some life, but Elias answered 20 seconds later with his 11th goal of the season to seal the win.

Game Notes

Dallas had taken a 3-1 decision over New Jersey in Texas on October 29...New Jersey plays in Montreal on Saturday...Dallas hosts the Ducks on Monday...Neither team scored on the power play as New Jersey failed on its two chances and Dallas went scoreless on four opportunities.