Devils burn Stars 5-0
After taking a step forward with their 2-1 win Monday night at Madison Square Garden, the Dallas Stars took a big step backwards Wednesday night in New Jersey. The problems that plagued them heading into this week's three-game road trip were back and the end result was a dismal 5-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
"That's just not playing good enough," said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "Not playing good enough from the goalies on out. You can say what you want, we didn't play good enough."
Marty Turco was pulled a little more than halfway through the game after allowing three goals on 17 shots. Tobias Stephan went the rest of the way and gave up two goals on 12 shots.
"It's embarrassing more than anything," Turco said. "I'm not sure what needs to be done. For me, I've just got to give these guys a chance, and I didn't do that for them."
As they have been in most of their games this season, the Stars were plagued by turnovers and defensive breakdowns Wednesday night.
"We were really looking flat-footed again" said Stars center Mike Modano. "Some of our coverage and our ability to absorb the rush was pretty ineffective. In the games we've lost it's been pretty evident."
The Devils, who improved to 5-1-0 on the season, took control of the game in the second period when they are all over the Stars and scored two quick goals to extend a 1-0 lead to a 3-0 lead.
"We have to have the ability to bring an intensity level to win a battle," said Tippett. "I don't care if you are a young guy, old guy or whatever. If you are not willing to get into battles you aren't going to win any battles. Those are things we actually took steps forward in the other night. Maybe we've got players we are overrating, I don't know. But we are not getting the job done. It's as simple as that."
The loss was the fifth in seven games (2-4-1) for the Stars, who have been outscored 29-18 by their opposition so far this season.
"Giving up five isn’t going to cut it and we have to play better in front of Turks," said Stars captain Brenden Morrow.
The much hyped showdown between Stars forward Sean Avery and the Devils and their goalie, Martin Brodeur, was a one-sided affair.
"We stayed with our game for 60 minutes," New Jersey coach Brent Sutter said. "We made the most of our scoring opportunities. Marty made a couple of big saves at key times. It was a real solid win here tonight."
Brodeur stopped 21 shots for his 98th career shutout and won his 543rd career game, moving him to within eight of Patrick Roy's league record of 551.
“It’s two points,” Brodeur said. “We just played our game and we didn’t worry about him (Avery) too much.”
Brodeur had a couple of sharp saves on Avery in the game and also stopped Mike Ribeiro's backhand attempt on a breakaway.
Brodeur got all the goal support he would need when Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner skated out of the corner and backhanded the puck from the bottom of the right faceoff circle through Turco just 1:59 into the game to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead.
The Devils would add two more in the second period and two more in the third period. It was the fourth time in seven games that the Stars had allowed five or more goals in a game.
"You need your goaltender to make saves. You need your special teams to work. You give up five goals on 20 shots or whatever, you are not going to win," said Tippett. "You could be the 1980 Oilers, you are still not going to win."
| Game Recap |
| First Period |
| The Devils scored the only goal of period
when Jamie Langenbrunner came out of the corner and beat Marty
Turco with a backhand shot from the bottom of the right faceoff
circle 1:59 into the game. Sean Avery had two shots on goal
against Martin Brodeur in the first period and Brodeur landed
one shot to the back of Avery's head when the Stars forward was
positioned in front of the New Jersey net. Score after first period: New Jersey 1, Dallas 0 First period shots on goal: New Jersey 7, Dallas 5 |
| Second Period |
| The Devils were all over the Stars early in
the second period and scored twice in a 1:12 span to take a 3-0
lead into the second intermission. John Madden slipped by Matt
Niskanen and beat Turco with a wrist shot at 9:05 of the period.
At 10:17 Madden struck again when Turco gave up a big rebound on
a long shot and the Devils center knocked it home to make it a
3-0 game. Turco was pulled after that goal and Tobias Stephan
took over in net for the Stars. The Stars had a good flurry of
shots late in the period, but Brodeur was sharp in making some
nice stops. Score after second period: New Jersey 3, Dallas 0 Second period shots on goal: New Jersey 13, Dallas 8 |
| Third Period |
| The Devils added two more goals in the third
period. Zach Parise scored on a rebound off the rush at 9:49.
Just 53 seconds later David Clarkson scored on a shot from
distance to round out the scoring for the Devils. Final score:
New Jersey 5, Dallas 0 |
| Official Scoresheet | Official Super Stats |
