Stars score seven, defeat Avalanche

DENVER --Tyler Seguin and Brett Ritchie each scored two goals to help the Dallas Stars win their fifth straight game, 7-2 against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Sunday.
Jason Spezza, Greg Pateryn and Devin Shore also scored for Dallas (16-10-1), which has won seven of its past eight games.

\[WATCH: All Stars vs. Avalanche highlights\]
"We are playing the right way," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We are not chasing the game up and down the ice. We aren't gambling on 50-50 situations. We are playing smart. You play the game the right way, you give yourselves a chance to win games, and that's what we are doing."
Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves for the Stars in his first game since Nov. 18, when he allowed three goals on 12 shots against the Edmonton Oilers. He also was away to be with his wife for the birth of their son.
"It was nice to play after a couple of weeks off," he said. "It was nice to have some good, solid stops, and getting a couple of goals from our guys eased me into it."
Mikko Rantanen and Blake Comeau scored for Colorado (12-11-2), which lost consecutive home games for the first time this season and are 1-3-0 in the first four games of a five-game homestand.
"We gave them everything they got tonight," Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson said. "We turned the puck over, we were sloppy and there's no excuse. They played last night, got in probably 2 in the morning and we were rested and ready to go, and we laid an egg. It's unacceptable."
The Stars took a 2-0 lead in the first period on Seguin's goals before the Avalanche scored 39 seconds into the second to make it 2-1. Nathan MacKinnon passed across to Rantanen, who scored his eighth goal.

The Jamie Benn-Seguin-Alexander Radulov line combined for five points (two goals, three assists) and nine of the Stars' 28 shots.
"Tonight it wasn't just our line, it was the whole team," Seguin said. "It's been a domino effect through the lineup. A great week for us and now we get ready for some tough hockey coming up."
Spezza and Pateryn scored 54 seconds apart in the second period to give the Stars a 4-1 lead. Spezza tipped Shore's shot between Jonathan Bernier's pads at 6:48 and Pateryn took Benn's pass off the boards and scored from the right point at 7:42 for his first goal in 44 games.

"It's always fun to score goals," said Pateryn, who has three in 112 NHL games. " When you don't do it often, it's even a little more special. I know I have a good shot, so I just let it rip."
Bernier made five saves on nine shots before he was replaced by Semyon Varlamov, who made 16 saves.
Comeau knocked in a rebound for his sixth goal at 12:54 of the second period, pulling the Avalanche within 4-2.
Ritchie converted Curtis McKenzie's pass at 4:02 of the third period for a 5-2 Stars lead.

Shore scored a shorthanded goal into an empty net at 17:24 and Ritchie scored at 18:10.
Seguin scored his first goal at 14:44 of the first period on a breakaway after intercepting a pass by Matt Nieto at the Stars blue line.
Seguin scored his 14th of the season with 50 seconds remaining in the period, tipping a shot by John Klingberg which had been deflected by Radulov.
"We're getting to the point in the season where we can't keep repeating mistakes," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "Three out of four at home, our starts have been poor. They've won five in a row now, lots of weapons, we turn the puck over and make it easy for them."

Goal of the game

Seguin's breakaway goal at 14:44 of first period.

Save of the game

Varlamov's blocker save against Radulov at 8:10 of second period.

Highlight of the game

Pateryn's goal at 7:42 of second period.

They said it

"It's a relief game. You win, it's a relief so you can fight another day. So, we're relieved we won both on the weekend and we're really looking forward to Nashville (on Tuesday)." -- Stars coach Ken Hitchcock
"You just have to flush it down the toilet and focus on the next one. We played horrible." -- Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson

Need to know

The Avalanche were 10-1-1 in the previous 12 home games against the Stars ... Seguin has four points (two goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak and six points (three goals, three assists) in four games against Colorado.

What's next

Stars: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET, FS-SW, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, ALT, MSG-B, NHL.TV)