Robidas, Stars get offensive in 5-3 win over Devils
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page
The Dallas Stars finally got some goal scoring Saturday night and they did it against the league's stingiest defensive team. Stephane Robidas had a career night, registering two goals and two assists to spark a 5-3 over the New Jersey Devils at American Airlines Center.
"Sometimes everything you touch seems to go in," said Robidas. "It's pretty simple."
Robidas' four points set a new career high and his two goal matched his career high.
"[Robidas] is a warrior," Stars center Brad Richards said. "He does the things game in and game out that only teammates see. And in the end, that's all that really matters. We know he's there every night and he's going to produce."
Richards had four assists in the game, Mike Ribeiro scored a goal and had an assist, Tom Wandell scored the game-winning goal and Warren Peters scored a goal in his Dallas Stars debut.
The Stars, who had scored 16 goals in their previous eight games, got five against a New Jersey team that was leading the league with a 2.10 goals against average.
"We did the things we had to do to be successful against these guys," Stars coach Marc Crawford said. "Protecting the puck, not turning it over, making sure we're solid going into the offensive zone, getting pucks, trying to create rebounds and really winning the battles after the initial shot."
The Stars, who have had trouble stringing wins together and were coming off a 4-1 loss to Columbus on Thursday, have showed resiliency in bouncing back from losses. They are 5-0-1 following regulation losses this season and bounced back strong from Thursday's 4-1 loss to Columbus.
"We seem to do this a lot this year. One good, one bad, one good. We've responded a few times like this," Richards said on The Ticket's postgame show. "We were confident we could respond and now we've got to back it up again."
The Stars didn't get off to a good start Saturday, falling behind 55 seconds into the contest when New Jersey's Brian Rolston broke in on net and slipped a backhand shot between Marty Turco's legs.
But the Stars bounced back quickly when Warren Peters deflected a Robidas shot past New Jersey starter Yann Danis just 1:27 later to tie the game at 1-1.
"Any time you go down 1-0 in the first minute, obviously you're going to be a little bit rattled," Crawford said. "Warren Peters came in and went strong to the net, and he got his stick on a point shot from Stephane Robidas."
The Stars then struck on their first two power play chances to build a 3-1 first period lead. Ribeiro scored off the rebound of a Robidas shot and then Ribeiro set up a Robidas goal.
New Jersey, which replaced Danis with Martin Brodeur to start the second period, rallied with a power play goal from Rolston in the second and another one from Travis Zajac in the third to tie the game, but 2:36 after Zajac's goal the Stars scored to get the lead back for good.
Richards sent a between-the-legs pass across the crease to Wandell, who had his first shot stopped by Brodeur, but scored on his own rebound to put the Stars up 4-3 with 10:53 left in the game. The Stars sealed the win when Loui Eriksson, who had two assists, sent a pass from behind the net to Robidas, who scored from the right circle with 5:51 remaining.
"They came back, but we bounced back right after that," said Robidas. "I think that showed a lot of character."
The Devils, who were missing five regular players, lost their third straight game (0-2-1) and fell to 14-6-1 on the season.
"It’s disappointing when you don’t win, but the way the guys are playing, we’ll be fine," Devils head coach Jacques Lemaire said. "We’ve just got to get some of the guys back and we’ll be OK."
The Stars continue their homestand Monday when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes at the American Airlines Center, where they are now 4-3-3 this season.
| Game Recap |
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The Devils scored just 55
seconds into the game when Jamie Langenbrunner sent a long pass
to Brian Rolston, who drove the net and slipped a backhand shot
between Stars goalie Marty Turco's legs.
The Stars drew even at the 2:22 mark when Warren Peters, called up from the AHL on Thursday, deflected a Stephane Robidas shot from the point past Devils goalie Yann Denis. The Stars then extended their lead to 3-1 by scoring on both their power play chances in the first period. With Brenden Morrow setting a screen in front of the New Jersey net, Mike Ribeiro scored off the rebound of a Robidas shot at the 7:59 mark to make it 2-1. And at 14:46 Ribeiro got to a rebound of a Brad Richards' shot off the end boards and slipped the puck to Robidas, who scored from the right circle at 14:46 to make it 3-1 heading into the first intermission. The Devils took out Danis after one period and brought in Martin Brodeur, who made some big saves early in the second period to keep it a 3-1 game. The Devils made it a 3-2 game when they cashed in on their power play chance of the game. Rolston scored on a blast from the left point. New Jersey drew even with a power play goal at 6:31 of the third period when Travis Zajac drove the net and slipped a puck past Turco. But the Stars bounced back 2:36 later when Richards made a no-look, between-the-legs pass across the crease to Tom Wandell, who had his first shot stopped by Brodeur but scored on the rebound to make it 4-3 Stars at the 9:07 mark of the third. The Stars got the goal to seal the deal when Loui Eriksson sent a pass from behind the net to Robidas, who scored from the right circle with 5:51 left in the game. |
| Turning Points |
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| Quotable |
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"For us the most important
thing was the win. Everybody's pretty happy about that. I never
put big numbers up, I just try to focus playing defensively and
physically, so when I can contribute offensively to help, it's
really nice." Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas "We tried to change things. [Yann] Danis, I think, he had no chance on rebounds, rebounds went right on their stick. He made the first save and that’s what we wanted and we were not sharp enough around him and I thought that putting in Marty [Brodeur] there might pick up the guys, give them a little more energy and they’d start to play a little better." Devils head coach Jacques Lemaire on making a goaltending change after the first period "We have to go out and respond on Monday night. Maybe it's not quite as exciting, and the record might not be the same, but it's going to be an NHL team coming in here, and we've got to play harder and harder." - Stars center Brad Richards on Monday's game against Carolina |
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