John Klingberg scored the deciding goal and had an assist on an insurance tally as the Dallas Stars outworked the visiting Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Tuesday to snap a three-game losing streak.
Jason Spezza also had a goal and an assist for Dallas, and Devin Shore added two assists in the victory. Ben Bishop stopped 31 shots to snap his own three-game losing streak.
Anze Kopitar and Tyler Toffoli scored for Los Angeles, which got 19 saves from Jonathan Quick.
Dallas dominated the first period but had only a 1-0 lead to show for the first 20 minutes. The Stars' goal came when Blake Comeau ripped a one-timer from the low slot past Quick at the 5:14 mark off assists from Jason Dickinson and Spezza.
Spezza added to the lead with a goal at 8:59 of the second period. Justin Dowling's shot from just inside the blue line was batted away by Quick and right to the waiting Spezza, who made short work of the opportunity. Shore was also credited with an assist on the tally.
The Kings cut the deficit to 2-1 with 5:56 to play in the second period when Drew Doughty fed Kopitar for a breakaway. Kopitar skated almost all the way into the crease before slipping a backhanded goal between Bishop's legs.
It took just 22 seconds for the Stars to respond. Klingberg took a pass from Shore and wristed a long shot through traffic and past Quick to give Dallas a 3-1 edge.
Los Angeles moved within 3-2 on another breakaway goal, this time by Toffoli with 2:51 to play in the second off an assist by Sean Walker.
Tyler Pitlick added to the Dallas lead at the 4:23 mark of the third period on the power play when he batted in a shot while in a scrum in front of the net. The play started with a shot from the point by Tyler Seguin. Pitlick shoved the rebound past Quick after Jamie Benn took three swipes at it.
The defeat was the fifth straight for the Kings (2-6-1), who are off to their worst start since 1985-86, when they were 1-8-0 through nine games.
Stars forward Alexander Radulov missed his second consecutive game due to a lower-body injury.
--Field Level Media
Los Angeles | Dallas | |
Anze Kopitar 1 | Points | John Klingberg 2 |
Anze Kopitar 1 | Goals | John Klingberg 1 |
Drew Doughty 1 | Assists | Devin Shore 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Tyler Pitlick 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Jonathan Quick .826 | Save Percentage | Ben Bishop .939 |
Jonathan Quick 19 | Saves | Ben Bishop 31 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Los Angeles | 33 | 2 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 6 | 34 |
Dallas | 23 | 4 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 6 | 28 |