Thursday 24 March 2016

{coyotes} Hanzal's 2 goals lead Coyotes past West-leading Stars 3-1

 

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Martin Hanzal scored his 100th career goal in the second period and added his first short-handed goal in more than seven years in the third to give the Arizona Coyotes a 3-1 victory over the sloppy Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

Tobias Rieder also scored, and Louis Domingue stopped 37 shots in Arizona's second win over the Western Conference leaders this season.

Two nights after clinching a playoff berth, the Stars took six penalties, gave up a penalty shot and the league's top offense was stymied in snapping a three-game winning streak.

Ales Hemsky's first-period goal was it for the Stars, who stayed two points ahead of idle St. Louis for the best record in the Central Division and the conference.

Hanzal, Arizona's first-round pick in 2005, has had an injury-filled career full of disappointments. But the 29-year-old got his milestone goal and the winner 55 seconds into the second period when he poked at Oliver Ekman-Larsson's rebound. The puck bounced off Dallas' Alex Goligoski and squirted by Kari Lehtonen.

Hanzal then collected Klas Dahlbeck's deflected shot off the crossbar and tapped in his first short-handed goal since Dec. 4, 2008, against Toronto at 7:51 of the third to put it away.

It was a rough night for the Stars, who dominated in Chicago 6-2 on Tuesday to secure a postseason spot and are trying to wrap up the best record in the West.

A parade to the penalty box sapped any momentum from Dallas, and it could have been worse thanks to Lehtonen's 26 saves and the missed penalty shot.

Captain Jamie Benn hauled down Brad Richardson on a breakaway in the second period, but Richardson's ensuing shot sailed over the net to keep it 2-1.

A strange first period included two goals in 9 seconds and three delay-of-game penalties that was a sign of things to come for Dallas

Rieder redirected Connor Murphy's one-timer past Lehtonen at 14:11 to put Arizona ahead and give the 23-year-old Rieder his career-best 15th goal.

On the next shift, Hemsky and Antoine Roussel broke on a 2-on-1, with Hemsky using slick stick work to wrap the puck around Domingue and tie it at 1.

Arizona, which came in short-handed an NHL-high 265 times, took just 50 seconds to take its first penalty when Anthony Duclair sent a clearance into the stands.

Dallas' Patrick Eaves and Benn later did the same, but the Coyotes couldn't capitalize.

And while Arizona finished 0 for 6 on the power play, they scored only its fourth short-handed goal of the season to win for the fifth time in seven games.

Game notes
Hanzal has three goals and an assist in the past two games. ... Lehtonen fell to 12-4-4 in his career against the Coyotes. ... Stars D
Kris Russell (lower-body) missed his second straight game. ... Most Stars players attended a Texas Rangers spring training game Wednesday in nearby Surprise. Rangers manager Jeff Banister entered the stands to congratulate them on clinching a playoff spot.

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