5 things to know: Offense leads way as Stars surge past Wings

The Dallas Stars made it two straight wins out of the holiday break, blowing by the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 at American Airlines Center on Saturday night.
Alexander Radulov scored two goals and Blake Comeau and Jason Spezza each tallied one goal and one assist as the Stars improved to 20-16-3 on the season. Also, Tyler Pitlick scored one goal, Radek Faksa chipped in two assists, and Ben Bishop stopped 33 shots.
Here are five things from Saturday's game.

1. Slow start, but offense flips switch

After a slow start to the game, the Stars got going late in the first period, outshooting the Red Wings 10-1 over the last 4:39 before the intermission. That play carried over to the second for the most part, and just over five minutes into the period Taylor Fedun made a great pass to spring the Stars on the rush, and Faksa set up Comeau for the first goal of the game.
Radulov added two more goals in the second -- one from the right circle at even strength and one on the rebound with Dallas on the power play -- and the Stars were in control with a 3-0 lead.
"I thought we probably deserved a little better fate in the first. Especially in the last eight minutes we did a lot of good things. That stuff carries over," said Spezza. "And we felt like we were on the right track with how the game was going, so I think it gave us some belief in between the first and second just to stick with the plan."
The Stars continued with the plan into the third with Pitlick scoring 31 seconds into the final frame and then Spezza picking off a pass at the Detroit blue line and scoring at the 2:20 mark to make it a 5-0 game.

2. Faksa line shines again

Radulov led the Stars with two goals and was the first star of the night, but the Comeau, Faksa, Pitlick line continues to shine for the Stars. That trio combined for two goals and three assists in Saturday's game. Pitlick scored for a third straight game since he was a healthy scratch in the Dec. 22 contest at Minnesota. Faksa has picked up three assists in the past two games.
"We complement each other really well," Comeau said. "I think we are able to shutter the other team's top guys down, and lately we've been able to contribute offensively, which is nice."
The three players, who had played together earlier in the season, were reunited for Thursday's game in Nashville, had a strong game and contributed one goal in the 2-0 victory over the Predators.
"The three of them are playing really well," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "These last two games, if it wasn't for them, I don't know if we win the games. That's how good they've been playing. It's their forecheck, it's their speed through the neutral zone that carries into the forecheck that allows them to possess pucks.
"That line is staying together."

3. Benn, Seguin quiet in win

Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin have been a hot topic the past couple of days after they were
called out for not performing up to expectations by Stars CEO Jim Lites on Friday
. Both players were quiet in Saturday's win over the Red Wings.
Seguin had one secondary assist on a power-play goal, one shot on goal and three shot attempts in 17:59 of ice time. Benn had no points, two shots on goal and three shot attempts in 15:07 of ice time.
Montgomery was asked about Benn and Seguin's performance after the game.
"I thought they helped us win," he said.
After Saturday's game, teammates talked about supporting Benn and Seguin following the comments from Lites.
"I think we all feel responsible," said Spezza. "We want to be a better team. It's not just those guys that need to be better. We all need to be better. As teammates, I think we need to respond and be a good club and try to win games here in this home stretch."
"I think it was a message for everyone," said Radulov. "We are a team, and we don't leave the guys by themselves. That's how we responded. They say whatever they want. They are allowed. So basically they weren't happy with us, so it's time to change.
"I think we took a small step today. There is another big game coming up on the 31st, so we just have to clean up some areas and get better every day."

4. Good start to home-heavy schedule

Saturday's game kicked off a four-game homestand and a key stretch of their schedule that will see the Stars play 10 of their next 13 games at AAC. The 5-1 win over the Red Wings was a good start to this opportunity the Stars have with this home-heavy schedule.
"This is the point where teams start to separate from each other," said Comeau. "You look at the standings, and it is extremely tight. These four games at home are going to be huge, and we've got to build off tonight's win."
The win over Detroit snapped a two-game home losing streak for the Stars, who improved to 12-5-1 at AAC.

5. Radulov leads charge on shot sheet

The Stars split the season series with Detroit 1-1-0. ... The Stars improved to 7-9-1 against the Eastern Conference. ... Dallas outshot Detroit 42-34 and had a 70-62 advantage in shot attempts. ... Radulov led the Stars with five shots on goal and eight shot attempts. ... The Stars were 1-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill. ... Dallas won 40 of 71 faceoffs (56 percent). Seguin won 12 of 20 (60 percent). Faksa won 8 of 14 (57 percent). Roope Hintz won 9 of 17 (53 percent). ... Esa Lindell led the Stars in ice time with 24:42.
Here was the lineup the Stars used to start the game along with injuries and scratches:
Jamie Benn - Roope Hintz - Alexander Radulov
Devin Shore - Tyler Seguin - Denis Gurianov
Blake Comeau - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Mattias Janmark - Jason Spezza - Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen - Roman Polak
Julius Honka - Taylor Fedun
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Valeri Nichushkin
Injured:Connor Carrick (foot), Martin Hanzal (back), Jason Dickinson (back), Marc Methot (knee), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.