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Hagman, Stars rout Kings

Oct 11, 2007 - 5:19 AM By John Tranchina PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DALLAS (Ticker) -- For a team that was supposed to lack offense this season, the Dallas Stars certainly made a statement.

Led by third-line left wing Niklas Hagman, the Stars scored three times in the second period and routed the Los Angeles Kings, 5-1, on Wednesday night.

It was Dallas' ninth consecutive victory over Los Angeles, including a sweep of the eight-game series last season.

The Stars, who finished 21st in the NHL in goals scored in 2006-07 and managed only 13 in a seven-game loss to Vancouver in the Western Conference quarterfinals last spring, declined to add scoring help over the summer. The feeling was that the club could get more offense out of its role players, including Hagman - who leads Dallas with four in four games after scoring twice in this one.

"I'm happy with two goals, but when you get two, you are looking for three," Hagman said. "I was concentrating a little bit more now when I get a chance to play on a more offensive line. I'm going to get a couple of good chances, and I've just got to be ready to bury them. I am just going to continue to create chances and play to my strengths."

The Stars also got goals from checking-line center Joel Lundqvist and third-liner Antti Miettinen, as well as last season's leading scorer, Mike Ribeiro, who was activated from injured reserver earlier Wednesday.

"Ribeiro is a key cog in the top of the lineup," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "I thought that things meshed pretty well tonight and we have a lot of positive things to build on. We're looking for some consistency and we're looking for people to click together, and tonight was a good start."

Marty Turco made 32 saves - including 17 in the third period - to notch his second victory of the season for Dallas.

Hagman, who contributed a career-high 18 goals last season, entered the night as the only Star with more than one tally this campaign. He netted the Stars' first two goals of the contest, racing in on a shorthanded breakaway and slipping a backhander between the pads of goaltender Jason LaBarbera at 7:25 of the first period.

"I probably went through 25 different scenarios between those two blue lines, but after the blue line, I figured I'm going to put it on my backhand," Hagman said. "Usually, I try to go backhand shelf, so I figured I'd put it on my backhand and try to go five-hole."

"I tried to be as patient as I could, but I misread it," said LaBarbera, who stopped 22 shots but fell to 0-2-0 on the season. "It's tough to give up a shorthanded goal. He made a good play. A couple of times, the puck seemed to bounce their way. The bottom line was, their goalie was better than ours."

Hagman doubled the lead at 4:18 of the second period, jamming home a beautiful behind-the-back pass from behind the net by captain Brenden Morrow.

Miettinen put Dallas ahead by three at 13:03 with a blazing snap shot from the right faceoff circle that beat LaBarbera high to the glove side. Ribeiro popped a loose puck over the netminder on a power play late in the session to make it 4-0.

"I had maybe one or two tweaks during the game, but I feel good," Ribeiro said of the sprained ankle that kept him out for several weeks. "A few mental mistakes there, a few turnovers, but other than that, I felt good physically, mentally. We did good and I'm happy that we got the win here."

After Lundqvist scored on another breakaway just 16 seconds into the third, Kyle Calder put the Kings on the board and halted Turco's shutout bid at 9:03, firing home a rebound of tough guy Raitis Ivanans' shot that left Turco prone on the ice.

"Tonight, the big story was Turco," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "We had way more great chances. He was the difference-maker for them. We had three big giveaways and they all ended up in the back of the net."

Los Angeles has lost its last three games since winning the season opener in London on September 29 against Anaheim.