DALLAS -- After suffering heartbreaking losses in each of their last three games at American Airlines Center, a streak dating back to their season-ending loss in Game Six of their first-round playoff series with the Anaheim Ducks in April, the Dallas Stars were due for a win on home ice.
And on Tuesday night, the Stars scored almost at will, leading 3-0 after one period and 5-0 early in the second on their way to a 6-3 victory against the Vancouver Canucks before 15,678 who left Victory Avenue happy after Dallas' first home win of the young season.
Second-year Stars head coach Lindy Ruff was naturally pleased to get his first win at the AAC this season, but the veteran coach also saw plenty of things that need to be cleaned up before Dallas returns to the ice on Friday night at the New Jersey Devils.
"That's a tough one to assess," Ruff said. "We started the game, did a lot of great things. I thought defensively we really struggled. We had a tough time down low, we made some poor decisions that led to some pretty good chances. We were above the puck in the offensive zone and they got inside us."
Vancouver actually started the game off well and had an edge in shots, but it was Dallas who struck first when a Ryan Garbutt pass was accidentally knocked into the Vancouver net by Canucks winger Alexandre Burrows 4:08 into the game.
Dallas then added two more in the first, a power-play goal by Erik Cole, who led the Stars with two goals, and another late in the frame by Tyler Seguin to take a three-goal cushion into the first intermission.
And the Stars onslaught continued into the middle frame as captain Jamie Benn scored 48 seconds in with a slapshot that chewed up Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller, a shot that struck his blocker and the knob of his stick before landing in the back of the net.
Cody Eakin then scored 29 seconds later to make it 5-0 and Miller's night was finished as backup netminder Eddie Lack made his way from the Vancouver bench to the crease.
The Canucks pulled one back when Radim Vrbata scored, but after a second from Cole, this one deflecting in off his stick. Vancouver scored the last two, one from Zack Kassian late in the second and another from Jannik Hansen in the third to make it 6-3, but that was it.
Kari Lehtonen finished with 43 saves on the night, none bigger than the pad save he made to deny Hansen on a breakaway in the first period, a huge stop that helped swing momentum Dallas' way as Cole made it 2-0 less than a minute later.
"That's what Kari does, makes big saves for us when we need them. He's always done that. It's not a surprise," Cole said.
Dallas will now have a few days of practice before heading out on a quick two-game road trip to face two Eastern Conference clubs in the Devils on Friday and the New York Islanders on Saturday.
"Both teams are playing very well," Ruff said. "The Islanders have been really the surprise and Jersey, history shows, is one of the toughest places to go in and scrape out some goals and get some offense. They're a very diligent club, they've been good offensively this year and their goaltender has been really good."
