Adam Henrique scores in OT, Devils win fifth in row

DALLAS --Adam Henrique scored 44 seconds into overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 victory against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
Henrique finished off a pass from Kyle Palmieri on a 2-on-1 to lift the Devils (9-3-3) to their fifth straight victory. It is New Jersey's longest winning streak since it won five in a row from Feb. 3-10, 2013.

"I think a lot of the credit goes to the players," Devils coach John Hynes said. "When you win games, the players have to have a certain work ethic, they have to make smart plays, they have to make the right decisions, and they have to play consistently. And I think we've been fortunate enough to be able to do that."
Palmieri stole the puck from Stars center Tyler Seguin in the Devils zone and broke out on a 2-on-1 to set up Henrique's game-winning goal after Dallas had possession early in overtime.
WATCH: All Devils vs. Stars highlights
"We're just patient in our own end there … created the turnover (and) got to be patient in overtime, and we just capitalized on the opportunity," Henrique said.
The Devils are 3-3 in games decided in overtime; the Stars are 0-5. Dallas (6-6-5) has lost nine straight in OT dating to last season.
"We held most of possession in overtime, and then they got a bounce and a 2-on-1," said Patrick Eaves, who scored the Stars goal. "With these overtimes and the 3-on-3, it's just a bounce and 2-on-1 away (from a loss)."

Defenseman Damon Severson scored off the rush at 7:40 of the first period to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead. Beau Bennett forced a turnover at the Devils blue line to start the play before PA Parenteau set up Severson for his third goal.
Dallas tied the game 1-1 on a similar play when Antoine Roussel forced a turnover at the Stars blue line and started a 2-on-1 with Eaves, who finished off the play at 10:33 of the first for his seventh goal.
Devils goalie Cory Schneider made 23 saves, and Stars goalie Antti Niemi had 31.

New Jersey outshot Dallas 16-7 in the second period, and Bennett hit the post with 42 seconds left in the period on a backhand shot.
Lauri Korpikoski had the Stars' best chance in the third period when his wrist shot snuck through Schneider but trickled wide.

#

Goal of the game

Palmieri was patient before passing to Henrique for the overtime winner. After Palmieri took the puck from Seguin, he and Henrique entered the zone against Dallas defenseman John Klingberg, who didn't take away the passing lane, and Niemi had no chance on Henrique's tap-in from the top of the crease. "I don't see myself as too much of a passer on 2-on-1s, but he dove pretty early," Palmieri said of Klingberg. "And I don't consider myself to have a very long reach, surprised me I got all the way around him and over to [Henrique], and he did a good job of burying it and going to the net."

#

Saves of the game

Schneider made back-to-back stops on Adam Cracknell in the second period. Schneider made a left-pad save on Cracknell's deflection of a Brett Ritchie wrist shot at 8:18, and then smothered a shot off the rebound after kicking the puck back to the Stars forward.

#

Highlight of the game

The Devils took advantage of a Klingberg turnover to set up Severson for their first goal. Bennett took the puck from Klingberg at the New Jersey blue line and moved it ahead to Parenteau, who set up Severson for a wrist shot high over Niemi from the slot.

#

Unsung moment of the game

The Devils limited the Stars to two shots on goal and killed off Dallas' second power play of the game after Travis Zajac was called for boarding with 4:47 remaining.

#

They said it

"This might have been the best possession we've had (in overtime) in a long time. We just made another ill-advised decision to put a puck in the middle. We had good possession. We should have been changing by that time, and the result was we made a bad pass, and we followed a bad pass and let guys get by us." -- Stars coach Lindy Ruff
"We just stuck with it. We had a game plan going in. They're a highly skilled team that can strike at any moment no matter how the game's going ... sometimes playing against an offensive team like that, the best defense is playing in their end." -- Devils forward Adam Henrique

#

Need to know

Devils forward Taylor Hall missed his first game of the season with a lower-body injury. Hynes said Hall returned to New Jersey for further evaluation. … New Jersey defenseman Jon Merrill was activated from injured reserve Tuesday. He participated in warmups but did not play. ... Stars forward Patrick Sharp missed his 13th straight game with a concussion.

#

What's next

Devils:At the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; PRIME, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Stars: Home against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, ALT, NHL.TV)