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Hanzal Scores for Stars but They Lose to Devils 5-2

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The 800th coaching win for Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock will have to hold, at least for another day. The Stars’s four game road trip hit a snag as they lost 5-2 against the New Jersey Devils. The Devils were playing on the second night of a back-to-back, losing in overtime to Montreal on Thursday night. Kari Lehtonen made his third consecutive start in net for the Stars, but the shine finally wore off for the veteran goaltender and he finished with 21 saves on 25 shots.

In what Stars fans hope to be a sign of things to come, Martin Hanzal scored on the power play in the first period to pull the game back to even after a goal from Steven Santini. Later in the period, John Klingberg caught a huge break on a New Jersey goal that was overturned. Klingberg committed a devastating turnover behind his blue line as he was attempting to clear the zone, and Pavel Zacha beat Lehtonen cleanly while crashing the net. Fortunately for the Stars, the clock just expired before the puck crossed the line.

Alexander Radulov made a beautiful play in the second period to tie the game at two. He picked up a loose puck that just trickled into the offensive zone and swept in front of Cory Schneider to finish with his back hand. Up to that point, the Stars went 0-for-2 on the penalty kill but then suffered from a string of successive penalties. Stephen Johns committed a high sticking double minor Miles Wood when he was trying to clear the crease, and Brian Boyle scored on a rebound with 10 seconds left on the man advantage.

Hanzal took a high stick in the third period to give the Stars about a minute of 5-on-3 time. Radulov had two chances on the weak side to tie the game again, but the first rang off the post and the second was stopped by Schneider. Boyle tallied an assist on a late goal from Nick Lappin, and scored an empty net goal to close the door on the Stars. They emptied their net with three minutes to go, and Schneider pulled out some sorcerous saves.

Play of the Game

Brian Boyle’s goal as the double minor penalty to the Stars was expiring was a back breaker. Boyle avoided the back check by John Klingberg and notched the 100th in his career as he cleaned up a rebound that bounced high off of Kari Lehtonen’s helmet.

The Upset Three Stars of the Game

1. Brian Boyle (2 G, 1 A) – Boyle scored the goal that pulled the Devils away and deflated the Stars in the process as they almost managed to kill off a double minor. Boyle also had the assist on the late goal from Nick Lappin, and an empty net goal.

2. Cory Schneider (.933 SV%) – The game would have been more competitive in the late going if not for Schneider. He did catch some good fortune when the Stars dinged a couple of posts but handled the scrambles in front of him when the Stars pushed.

3. Brian Gibbons (2 A) – Gibbons was instrumental in winning puck battles and setting up his teammates for quality chances. His line terrorized the Stars all night.

The Goals

First Period

4:28 Steven Santini scored his second goal of the season on a shot from the point that beat Kari Lehtonen blocker side. It was the fourth shot of the game for the Devils. Stars 0, Devils 1

6:42 Martin Hanzal picked up his second goal of the season on the power play. He was posted up next to the net when he cashed in on Tyler Seguin’s pass on the his second attempt. Stars 1, Devils 1

19:06 With just under a minute left in the first period, the Devils won a face-off and got the puck to the point. Andy Greene fired from up high, and Kari Lehtonen couldn’t control the rebound. DFW product Blake Coleman was in Lehtonen’s grill to clean up the rebound. Stars 1, Devils 2

Second Period

8:09 Mattias Janmark was pinned to the boards in the neutral zone and separated from the puck when Alexander Radulov came streaking by. Radulov went in on the rush and stuffed the puck past Cory Schneider with his back hand. Stars 2, Devils 2

16:39 As the double minor to Stephen Johns was expiring, Brian Boyle cleaned up a rebound that clanked off of Kari Lehtonen’s helmet. It was Boyle’s 100th career goal in the NHL. Stars 2, Devils 3

Third Period

12:57 Nick Lappin scored his first goal of the season with some hard work in front of the net. A loose stick tripped up Julius Honka attempting to clear the zone. After the Devils held the zone, the stick provided a fortunate bounce to help Lappin get to the front of the net. Stars 2, Devils 4

18:00 Brian Boyle scored into the empty net late in the game from deep in his defensive zone. Stars 2, Devils 5

Devils lineup
Jesper Bratt — Nico Hischier — Drew Stafford
Blake Coleman — Travis Zajac — Brian Gibbons
Miles Wood — Pavel Zacha — Stefan Noesen
Jimmy Hayes — Brian Boyle — Nick Lappin

John Moore — Sami Vatanen
Andy Greene — Steven Santini
Damon Butcher — Damon Severson

Cory Schneider
Keith Kincaid

Scratched: Ben Lovejoy, Dalton Prout

Injured: Taylor Hall (knee), Marcus Johansson (ankle), Mirco Mueller (clavicle), Kyle Palmieri (foot)

Stars lineup
Mattias Janmark — Jason Spezza — Alexander Radulov
Jamie Benn — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Remi Elie — Tyler Seguin — Devin Shore
Antoine Roussel — Martin Hanzal — Brett Ritchie

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns — Julius Honka

Kari Lehtonen
Ben Bishop

Scratched: Jason Dickinson, Jamie Oleksiak, Gemel Smith

Injured: Marc Methot (knee)

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