Rolling on: Stars stifle Avalanche for fourth straight win

DALLAS -- By the time Nathan MacKinnon rifled the Avalanche's first shot of the night into the pads of a waiting Ben Bishop on Tuesday, the Stars had 12 of their own, a two-goal lead and 16 minutes, 23 seconds of game time had elapsed.
Needless to say, it was not the best of starts for Colorado. Dallas made sure the rest of the night stayed that way.

WATCH: [All Stars vs. Avalanche highlights]
Radek Faksa scored twice, Jason Dickinson notched his first goal of the season and Corey Perry added his second to back Bishop's 36-save effort in a 4-1 victory at American Airlines Center.
It was the Stars' fourth straight win and their seventh in eight games as they climbed to the .500 mark for the first time this season, evening their record at 8-8-1.

"It's easy to feel good in a moment like this, but we need to keep it rolling because our cold start just kind of killed us and put us in a deep hole," Dickinson said of Dallas' 1-7-1 start to the season. "We've climbed our way out of it and we're .500 now, so if we can keep this ball rolling, we can start making our way to the top."
It didn't take long for the Stars to get rolling in Tuesday's game.
Nineteen seconds into the first period, Dickinson slipped a shot through Philipp Grubauer's five-hole unassisted for a 1-0 advantage. Faksa doubled the lead a little more than five minutes later on the power play, chipping the puck into the air off a lunging Grubauer and into the back of the net.
Colorado challenged the call, arguing there was goaltender interference. But the goal was upheld after a video review showed the shot was clean.

"I love the way we started the game," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "I thought we imposed our will right from the start and played a very aggressive, physical game right from the start."
J.T. Compher cut Dallas' lead to one with a goal at 19:24 of the first, but that's as close as Colorado got.
Faksa poked home his second of the night at 10:54 of the second on the power play, backhanding home a rebound.
The Avalanche again challenged the goal, claiming Faksa's stick had broken before he shot the puck. But the call stood and Colorado was assessed a four-minute minor for delay of game.

"I tipped the puck and I just saw the rebound and put it in," said Faksa, who now has four goals on the season. "After that, I saw the broken stick, so I was sure it's a good goal."
Perry added his first home goal at 6:49 of the third, backhanding a shot off Grubauer from a sharp angle to put the game away.
Both teams racked up the penalty time in the game, combining for 25 minutes, with Dallas going 1-for-7 on the man-advantage and Colorado finishing 0-for-8.
Though there's still room to grow, Montgomery was happy to come out on top.
"Confidence is really good," Montgomery said, "and we still have some guys that are still not at their level of their individual game, so it's exciting how much more room for growth we have just within our team."

Klingberg to miss 'at least two weeks' with injury

John Klingberg will be out at least two weeks with a lower-body injury, Montgomery said after the game.
The Stars defenseman was hit in the neck area with a shot in the second period and seemed to get twisted up while falling to the ice. He was helped off the ice by a trainer and returned to play later in the frame, but was sidelined for the third.
"It's never good when one of your top three (defensemen) gets injured," Montgomery said. "But we went through it last year."
Dallas' list of defensemen on the shelf includes Andrej Sekera (general soreness), Roman Polak (sternum), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches) and Klingberg.

Fast facts

They said it

"Obviously, you'd like to play as long as you can, but to hit a milestone like that is something pretty cool. You kind of look back on your career and think about all the people that helped you get here. Your parents, my sister, my family, my wife. So, a lot of people that helped out along the way and something that I will share with them."
-- Comeau on playing in his 800th game
"I think for anybody it's neat but for a guy like Blake Comeau, who, anywhere he's played his teammates and coaches really value him. The energy he brings to the locker room and on the bench, along with the details make you a better team."
-- Montgomery on Comeau

Up next

The Stars get a bit of a breather before opening a four-game swing through Canada on Sunday afternoon at Winnipeg. They will then travel to Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Jeff Odom covers the Stars for DallasStars.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffodom.