Two days after suffering one of their worst defeats of the season in Philadelphia, the Dallas Stars returned to form against the New Jersey Devils with an outstanding performance.
On Saturday night, the Stars defeated the Devils 6-2. Scott Wedgewood made 29 saves in opposition to his former teammates, and Roope Hintz scored twice in a three-goal second period.
The victory followed a 5-1 defeat to Philadelphia in which Dallas was outshot 43-15.
Tonight, I enjoyed the entirety of our game, said Dallas head coach Pete DeBoer. “You know, as much as I enjoyed tonight’s game, I abhorred every aspect of our previous contest. Thus, we completed all the necessary repairs for the evening. Tomorrow, we have another opportunity to do that on the island.”
Additionally, Craig Smith, Joe Pavelski, Wyatt Johnston, and Matt Duchene all contributed to the Stars’ 6-1-1 record in their last eight meetings with New Jersey. Additionally, Dallas ruined the evening that the Philadelphia Eagles honored Sergei Brylin, assistant coach and three-time Stanley Cup champion, with the Ring of Honor at the Prudential Center.
While Wedgewood improved to 3-0 against his former teammates, he was briefly troubled early in the third period when Michael McLeod delivered a vicious slapshot that struck him in the facemask and removed it. He conceded late goals to Tyler Toffoli and Jesper Bratt after the Stars had taken a 6-0 lead.
According to Wedgewood, the deciding factor in his performance was thwarting four close attempts within the first 37 seconds.
“Obviously it settles the team down,” he commented. “We get out of the first little flurry, we score a couple goals, we’re up early, and we we get back to our game.”
