Stars bounce back, edging Devils for 'huge' victory

The Dallas Stars were looking to bounce back from Tuesday's loss to Columbus, and they did on Thursday night with a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils at American Airlines Center.
"It's huge," said Stars center Seguin. "It was a nice recovery from last game, hard practice (Wednesday), just good bounce back."

WATCH: [All Stars vs. Devils highlights]
The Stars shook off being down 1-0 after 20 minutes and the Devils scoring late goals in both the first and second periods in the game.
"We were a little bit slow in the first period, but we got better in the second," said Stars center Martin Hanzal. "It wasn't pretty, but we got it done today."
"They don't ask you how you got those points, right?" said Stars defenseman Marc Methot. "I know there were moments where I'm sure the game was pretty exciting. I don't think it was as boring as the last one, so that was a bonus."
Hanzal, who had one assist and won 9 of 13 faceoffs, and Methot both returned from injury as the Stars won for the fifth time in the last seven games (5-2-0) and improved to 23-16-3 on the season.

"I thought Hanzal coming in helped us a lot, and I thought Methot really sturdied the third pair," said Stars coach Ken Hitchcock.
Alexander Radulov tallied one goal and two assists for the Stars. Brett Ritchie, Tyler Seguin, and Mattias Janmark also scored goals, and Ben Bishop stopped 39 of 42 shots.
Taylor Hall had one goal and two assists for the Devils, who lost their fourth straight game (0-2-2) and fell to 22-11-7 on the season.
"We gave it away," Devils coach John Hynes said of the game.
"We liked our first period, and that was about it," said Devils captain Andy Greene. "We gave them everything they had tonight. Give them credit. They cashed in on it. But too many mistakes all over the ice and they made us pay."
There were some good chances in the first period. Bishop had big stops on quality chances by Nico Hischier and Blake Coleman. Stars defenseman John Klingberg hit the post with Dallas on one of the five power plays the two teams had in the period.

The Devils struck late in the first to take a 1-0 lead. With New Jersey on a power play late in the period, Devils goaltender Cory Schneider came up big, stopping Stars forward Tyler Pitlick on a shorthanded breakaway. And 15 seconds later Hall put the puck on net on the rush, and Brian Boyle directed it past Bishop from close range with 13.9 seconds left in the period.
The Stars drew even at 6:18 of the second when Radulov picked off a pass by Greene in the New Jersey zone and then slipped the puck past Schneider to tie the game 1-1.
"I was trying to make a play there," Greene said. "I thought I saw we had a guy in front there. Obviously, we didn't, and they made us pay. It was kind of the theme of the night."
The Stars took a 2-1 lead less than five minutes later, taking advantage of back-to-back penalties on New Jersey defenseman Sami Vatanen. The Devils killed off the first Dallas power play but as his first penalty ended Vatanen touched the puck while still partially in the penalty box, resulting in an interference call.
"You can't play anything, a player or the puck when your feet are in the penalty box," said Hynes.
With Vatanen back in the box, the Stars scored when Ritchie tipped a Klingberg shot past Schneider at 11:07 of the second and the Stars had the lead.

The Stars pushed their advantage to 3-1 with a shorthanded goal late in the second when Seguin finished off a two-on-one rush with Jamie Benn with 1:49 left in the period. It was the first shorthanded goal of Seguin's career.
"I love being on the PK," Seguin said. "I have felt that extra responsibility since training camp. When we first talked and [Hitchcock] was named coach here, he said that I was going to get that opportunity. I love doing it and I'm happy to be out there."
The Devils answered with 27.1 seconds left in the second when Bishop stopped a Hall shot on the rush, but the rebound went off Stars defenseman Greg Pateryn and into the net, and the Dallas lead was 3-2 heading into the third period.
Dallas pushed the lead to 4-2 midway through the third when Hanzal set up Janmark, who finished off a two-on-one rush at the 9:43 mark.
New Jersey made it interesting late, taking advantage of a power play. Bishop seemed to be caught off guard by a Kyle Palmieri shot from the right boards, and it was a 4-3 game with 4:01 remaining. The Devils pulled Schneider for an extra attacker with 90 seconds left but couldn't get the game-tying goal and the Stars held on for the regulation win.
"I like the way we fought. I like the way we battled," Hitchcock said. "New Jersey is a heck of a hockey club. They've got a lot of elements that any coach would love to have. They've got a really, really strong team. Overall, this is a big win for us."

Notes

What's Next

The Stars host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon in the final game before their bye week. This will be the third and final meeting between the Stars and Oilers this season. The Stars are 1-1-0 in the season series, losing 5-4 at Edmonton on Oct. 26 and winning 6-3 in Dallas on Nov. 18.

Stars Lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Brett Ritchie
Mattias Janmark - Jason Spezza - Alexander Radulov
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Jason Dickinson - Martin Hanzal - Devin Shore
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Greg Pateryn
Marc Methot - Stephen Johns
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Scratched:Gemel Smith, Julius Honka
Injured: Remi Elie (illness)

Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter at @StarsInsideEdge.