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Monday, Jan. 3 8:30pm ET
Stars unbeaten against Kings in 20 games | |||||
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BOX SCORE
DALLAS (AP) -- With Ed Belfour in goal for the entire game, the Dallas Stars once again showed their dominance over the Los Angeles Kings. Belfour made 26 saves and the Stars stretched their unbeaten streak against the Kings to 20 games with a 4-1 victory on Monday night. Stars coach Ken Hitchcock made a goalie change on New Year's Eve after Belfour gave up two early goals to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. The Stars rallied for a 5-4 victory with backup Manny Fernandez, and Belfour was unhappy with the decision. That's what made Monday night's result so satisfying. "No goalie is ever happy when he gets pulled, justified or not," said Belfour, whose record improved to 15-12-4. "You want to come back the next game, play better and shake it off." Mike Keane had a short-handed goal and Mike Modano scored during a third-period power play for the Stars. Rookie Brenden Morrow added a first-period goal for the Stars, playing their 500th regular-season game since moving from Minnesota in 1993. Keane, like a lot of his teammates, was puzzled over Belfour's removal. "I didn't think he was playing bad when he got taken out," Keane said. "He played very well tonight." The Stars are 14-0-6 against the Kings since losing to Los Angeles on April 6, 1995. "I like playing them," Modano said. "Their style is different than what we see a lot, it's more wide-open. It's a relief from the clutch-and-grab you see from a lot of teams." Los Angeles coach Andy Murray pointed out that few current players were on the team for most of the 20-game series. The Kings have lost both meetings with the Stars this season. "Most of us haven't been here for it," Murray said. "The only thing that wears on us are the two games this season. You don't win many games when you score one goal." Sergei Zubov scored an empty-net goal with 41.6 seconds left and had two assists for the Stars. Dallas is 11-4-2 in its last 17 games, while Los Angeles is 1-7-0 in eight contests. Trailing 2-0, the Kings finally beat Belfour at 1:58 of the third on Vladimir Tsyplakov's 30-foot wrist shot. But Modano's 15th goal 2:38 later restored the two-goal lead for Dallas, which is 15-0-0 when it scores at least three times. Morrow notched his fourth goal on a deflection at 5:41 of the first. Keane made it 2-0, with his fifth goal, 1:06 later while teammate Kevin Dean was in the penalty box. The Kings held an 11-2 shots advantage in the second period, but Belfour kept Los Angeles scoreless with strong play in front of the net. Dallas' Brian Skrudland (chest contusion) and Los Angeles' Jozef Stumpel (left knee contusion) were forced out of the game in the second period. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Los Angeles Clubhouse Dallas Clubhouse RECAPS New Jersey 4 Ottawa 3
Dallas 4
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