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Alexander Radulov’s Three Point Night Paces Stars Past Devils 4-3

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The Dallas Stars exorcised a few demons from last month when the New Jersey Devils came to town with a couple of DFW natives in tow. They beat the Devils 4-3 with Alexander Radulov picking up three points in the game.

Ben Bishop drew his ninth consecutive start for the Stars and snuffed out a few quality chances from the Devils. Taylor Hall raced out of the penalty box to collect the puck and find Nico Hischier across the crease only to thwarted by Bishop’s excellent read. On the power play late in the first period, John Klingberg fired from the right circle and had Cory Schneider beat but only found the pipe.

Stephen Johns committed the third penalty of the period for the Stars and it resulted in a goal for Brian Boyle. Tyler Pitlick had a shorthanded breakaway chance that was stopped by Schneider, setting up a rush for the Devils. Hall connected with Boyle to give the Devils a goal within the final 14 seconds of the period.

Alexander Radulov knotted the game up five minutes into the second period. Attempting to clear the puck, Devils captain Andy Greene unintentionally centered the puck to the forechecking Radulov, giving him an easy chance to wait Schneider to react and slide the puck in past him. The Stars later had the benefit of back-to-back power plays, and Ken Hitchcock added Brett Ritchie as a net front presence to the top unit. It paid off on the second power play when Klingberg shot from the point and Ritchie redirected to give the Stars the lead.

The Stars also tilted the special teams battle in their favor and made amends for the earlier botched shorthanded chance. Tyler Seguin made a good play with the stick to tip a puck out to the neutral zone and was off to the races with Jamie Benn on a 2-on-1. Seguin fed Benn a slick drop pass, and Benn answered with a backhand dime to Seguin who finished for his first career shorthanded goal.

The waning seconds of the period were once again unkind to the Stars. Fresh off their jubilation, Hall once again caused havoc, this time taking the puck in the neutral zone and beating everyone to the net. His attempt on Bishop created a rebound that bounced off of Greg Pateryn’s skate and into the net.

Radulov picked up his third point of the night the hard way. He blocked a shot in front of the net and immediately left the ice, but it created a 2-on-1 for Martin Hanzal and Mattias Janmark. Hanzal made a perfect cross-crease pass to Janmark where he beat Schneider glove side for what would count as the game winning goal. Kyle Palmieri made the Stars sweat with a late goal on the power play on a shot from the side boards that Bishop failed to track.

Fluke goal from Palmieri aside, the Stars held on when the Devils emptied their net, and Bishop finished with 39 saves on 42 shots.

Play of the Game

Tyler Seguin’s first career shorthanded goal came at a critical juncture. Not only was it a dazzling sequence of passing with Jamie Benn, it also gave the Stars a necessary two goal lead with the Devils poised to make a push.

The Upset Three Stars of the Game

1. Alexander Radulov (1 G, 2 A) – Dallas’ emotional engine was a big time player, as he often is. His first goal got the scoring going for the Stars, and his second assist came from a critical block in front of Ben Bishop’s net.

2. Taylor Hall (1 G, 1 A, 10 SOG) – Hall was a force for the Devils and made the Stars thankful he plays in the Eastern conference. He was getting to every loose puck on the ice and turning it into scoring chances with his blazing speed.

3. Tyler Seguin (1 SHG, 8 SOG) – Seguin’s play in all three zones won’t exactly show up on the stat sheet but will be noticed by the coaching staff. His shorthanded goal gave the Stars much needed breathing room as the Devils weren’t done scoring.

The Goals

First Period

19:46 When Tyler Pitlick couldn’t get his shorthanded breakaway chance to go and it created an odd man rush the other way for the Devils. Taylor Hall chipped the puck ahead towards the net to Brian Boyle, who beat Ben Bishop with 14 seconds left in the period. Stars 0, Devils 1

Second Period

6:18 Andy Greene unintentionally centered the puck to Alexander Radulov, who had all day to sneak one in past Cory Schneider. Stars 1, Devils 1

11:07 Brett Ritchie was given time on the top power play unit and took his big frame to the front of the net to redirect John Klingberg’s shot from the point. Stars 2, Devils 1

18:11 Tyler Seguin scored his first career shorthanded goal. He made a play with his stick to bat the puck out to neutral zone, gathered it, exchanged passes with Jamie Benn, and finished from the left side. Stars 3, Devils 1

19:32 Taylor Hall got some help from Greg Pateryn’s skate on a goal late in the second period. Hall got in past everyone for a point blank chance, and the rebound was knocked in by Pateryn on the back check. Stars 3, Devils 2

Third Period

9:43 Alexander Radulov’s block in front of Ben Bishop’s net created a 2-on-1 for Martin Hanzal and Mattias Janmark. Janmark scored off Hanzal’s cross-crease pass to put the Stars up two. Stars 4, Devils 2

15:59 Kyle Palmieri scored the second power play goal for the Devils on a shot from the side boards that Ben Bishop lost track of when it bounced off of him. Stars 4, Devils 3

Devils lineup
Taylor Hall — Nico Hischier — Jesper Bratt
Marcus Johansson — Travis Zajac — Kyle Palmieri
Miles Wood — Pavel Zacha — Stefan Noesen
Blake Coleman — Brian Boyle — Brian Gibbons

Andy Greene — Steven Santini
John Moore — Sami Vatanen
Damon Butcher — Ben Lovejoy

Cory Schneider
Keith Kincaid

Scratched: Damon Severson, Jimmy Hayes, Drew Stafford

Injured: Mirco Mueller (clavicle)

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

Injured: Remi Elie (illness)

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