Hurricanes hand Stars fourth loss in row

Nino Niederreiter scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period to help the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Dallas Stars 5-3 at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Thursday.

Niederreiter scored on a breakaway after a stretch pass from Dougie Hamilton at 3:58 of the third period, and Warren Foegele added an empty-net goal with 54 seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.
"We made some nice high-end plays to get some goals and then kind of buckled down," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It was a gritty win."
Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho each had a goal and an assist, and Vincent Trocheck and Brett Pesce each had two assists for the Hurricanes (8-3-0), who have won all three games against the Stars this season. James Reimer made 34 saves.
"Most of the lines play the same way, it doesn't matter who you are playing with," Niederreiter said. "I definitely think that's what makes this group special."
Mark Pysyk, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski scored for the Stars (5-3-3), who have lost four in a row (0-2-2) and six of their past seven since starting the season 4-0-0. Anton Khudobin made 27 saves.
"We're playing better than our record," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "The way we're playing right now, if we stay with it and clean up a couple things and give the young players more experience, we'll be OK."

Aho gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 16:01 of the first period. Trocheck forced a turnover in the slot, and Staal collected the loose puck in a scramble and fed Aho for a one-timer short side on the power play.
"These plays [Staal] has been making, they're the same plays he's been making over and over for years," Brind'Amour said. "We're just connecting on them right now. I can't tell you how many times I've come back [after] the game and said, 'How did [Staal] not have three points?'"
Pysyk scored his first of the season to tie it 1-1 at 5:16 of the second period when he skated along the goal line and followed his rebound.
"I was trying to make a pass across the crease, and it just sat there," Pysyk said. "I just jammed it in."

Staal responded 30 seconds later, lunging to redirect Andrei Svechnikov's pass across the slot for a 2-1 lead. Staal has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past six games.
"I felt good coming into the season," the forward said. "It's nice to pop a few in early and get the confidence going. I'm just trying to ride it as best I can."
Hintz appeared to score at 8:12 of the second, but Carolina challenged the play for offside, and the call was reversed after video review.
Hintz then scored 13 seconds later to tie it 2-2, and Pavelski gave Dallas a 3-2 lead with a one-timer off a pass from John Klingberg during a 5-on-3.

Brock McGinn scored for a fourth straight game to tie it 3-3 with 27 seconds left in the second, shooting into an open net on the rebound of Pesce's shot from the point.
"It wasn't pretty," Brind'Amour said. "I thought we came out really well, and then the penalties just sucked the game right away from us. Then we kind of battled back and capitalized, really."
NOTES:The teams play here again Saturday. … Reimer is 6-1-0 in nine games against the Stars.... Pavelski scored his NHL-leading sixth power-play goal of the season. He scored six in 67 games with Dallas last season.