Blowout: Stars hammer Rangers 10-2

Saturday, February 07, 2009-1:18:am
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page                            

The Dallas Stars bounced back from Thursday night's loss in Colorado and they bounced back in a big way. Eight different players scored as the Stars hammered the New York Rangers 10-2 at the American Airlines Center Friday night.

"You could tell last night with that game we lost, our players were mad and frustrated," said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "Come today we needed a better effort and we got it."

The Stars scored ten goals in a game for the first time since the franchise moved to Dallas for the 1993-94 season and for the first time since November 1992, when the Minnesota North Stars beat San Jose 10-3.

Mike Ribeiro and James Neal had two goals each. Brian Sutherby, Brad Richards, Jere Lehtinen, Fabian Brunnstrom, Steve Ott and Darryl Sydor also scored. Matt Niskanen had three assists and Mike Modano chipped in two helpers.

"It was good to see everybody contribute and get a lot of goals, but to be honest our play was key tonight," said Ott, who also had two two assists. "We kept it simple and talked about keeping that push strong. We boosted up our power play percentage by scoring a lot of late goals there."

The Stars, who moved into fifth place in the Western Conference, were 4-9 on the power play in the game against the league's top ranked penalty kill. Three of them came in the third period with the Stars already ahead 6-2.

Special teams were key in the game. The Stars took a 2-1 lead in the first period when Ribeiro scored off a rebound just as a five-on-three power play was turning into a five-on-four.

The Stars were clinging to a 3-2 lead with five minutes left in the second period when the Rangers went on a five-on-three power play for 1:45. But the Stars killed off that and a little more than a minute later Ribeiro scored to make it 4-2 off a New York turnover that Ott helped create.

"The fourth goal for us, I thought, was a huge goal in the game," said Tippett. "Ott goes in on a good forecheck, turns the puck over and Ribeiro scores."

In the third period the rout began. Lehtinen scored 4:15 into the third to make it 5-2 and then Brunnstrom, Ott, and Sydor all scored in a 1:10 span to make it 8-2. Four minutes later Neal scored two power play goals in a 1:07 span to push the Stars to the ten-goal mark.

"That five-on-three they got, we were able to kill and that they gave us some jump after that," said Ribeiro, who had four points (two goals, two assists). "We were able to extend it and then in the third period once you get to six and seven the other team is watching the clock and want the game to be done, and young guys like Brunnstrom and Nealer want to be on the scoresheet, so they are still working." 

The Rangers gave up ten goals in a game for the first time since 1993 and saw their winless streak hit four games (0-3-1).

“This is a big loss, there’s no question about that,” Rangers coach Tom Renney said. “But you know what, 3-2 or 10-2, a loss is a loss. The one thing we can’t do is hide behind a low-scoring game. This time around, we got pounded.

"You can't be more disappointed than what happened tonight."

There was no disappointment on the other side with the 10-2 final score

"It was a little bit unexpected," said Tippett. "I like the way our guys were committed to play a full 60 minutes, and we took it right to the end."