Stars happy to be home vs. Devils
American Airlines Center has proven to be a safe haven for the Dallas Stars this season. The Stars look to continue their torrid play at home on Tuesday when they host the reeling New Jersey Devils, who are mired in a five-game winless skid (0-4-1). Dallas followed what coach Jim Montgomery called the team's "worst game of the year" -- a 5-1 setback in Winnipeg on Dec. 3 -- by opening a four-game homestand with a flourish. The Stars posted a 3-2 overtime win over the Jets on Thursday and then earned a 3-1 triumph versus the New York Islanders two nights later, boosting the club's mark to 9-1-0 in the past 10 home games while elevating its home win total to Western Conference-best 11 on the season. A potent power play of late has propelled Dallas, which has converted four times with the man advantage in the past two games to improve its efficiency to 18.2 percent on the season. "Players are moving the puck and have an attack mindset," Montgomery said. "You want to put their players on their heels." Alexander Radulov had a hand in both power-play goals against the Islanders, scoring late in the first period to stake the Stars to a 2-0 lead before setting up Denis Gurianov's tally early in the second. "Whenever you can get him the puck, good things can happen," Mattias Janmark said of Radulov, who has done most of his damage in Dallas. The 33-year-old Russian has recorded seven of his nine goals and 12 of his 17 points on the season at home. Fellow forward Tyler Seguin has followed suit, with a significant portion of his team-leading totals in assists (17) and points (23) being posted at home (11 and 13, respectively). Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen carries a three-game point streak (one goal, three assists) into Tuesday's tilt versus New Jersey. The Devils opened their four-game road trip with a 6-4 setback in Nashville on Saturday, an all-too-familiar result for interim head coach Alain Nasreddine. "The energy, style of play is there, but a lot of the same mental mistakes," Nasreddine said. "We have to find a way to get better. There's a lot of things we aren't doing in order to be winning more games. "A lot of guys showed up. A lot of good responses, that's what we'll take out of it. We'll work on some things, get better. We'll find a way." Alternate captain Travis Zajac and fellow forward Blake Coleman were a bit more direct in their assessments of what is causing the Devils to be undone. "You still need some smarts to win in this league, and I still think parts of our game are immature," Zajac said, per NorthJersey.com. "That's just killing us right now." "Too many high-danger chances against," Coleman added. "You're going to give up a couple, and you can live with that because your goalie can bail you out now and again." Taylor Hall has scored a goal in consecutive contests and set up two others during his three-game point streak. The former Hart Trophy recipient leads the team in assists (19) and points (25). --Field Level Media |