Daley, Lehtonen Lead Stars Past Wild
DALLAS (AP) -- Defenseman Trevor Daley ignited a three-goal flurry over in 1:31 span in the second period, Kari Lehtonen made 14 saves for his 15th career shutout, and the Dallas Stars continued their home dominance over the Minnesota Wild with a 4-0 victory on Friday night.
Tom Wandell and Mike Ribeiro added second-period goals for the Stars, 6-0-2 in their last eight games.
Jamie Benn scored a goal in his sixth consecutive game to help Dallas move to fourth in the Western Conference playoff race with 82 points.
The Wild, 0-10-4 in their last 14 road games against the Stars, were shut out for the second consecutive night and fifth time overall this season.
Minnesota was beaten 4-0 at Nashville on Thursday night to open a four-game trip.
The Wild, 2-4-1 in their last seven overall, haven't won in Dallas since March 21, 2003.
Benn opened the scoring with an outstanding individual effort. Benn took possession of the puck in the neutral zone, skated up the right side and sent a backhand shot past Jose Theodore at 12:02 of the first period.
Daley got a lucky bounce when his centering pass caromed off the stick of Minnesota's Kyle Brodziak and by Theodore to give Dallas a two-goal pad at 15:52 of the second period.
Wandell scored from the right circle 13 seconds later to make it 3-0, and Ribeiro struck from the slot after a poor Minnesota clearance at 17:23.
NOTES: Lehtonen had his first shutout in his 67th game for the Stars. ... Dallas D Nicklas Grossman (hip) returned after missing 11 consecutive games. Grossman was injured Feb. 13 against Columbus. Before the injury, Grossman was on the top defensive pair with Stephane Robidas. But while Grossman was out, the Stars acquired D Alex Goligoski in a trade with Pittsburgh, and Dallas coach Marc Crawford installed Goligoski on the No. 1 duo with Robidas. Grossman was paired with Karlis Skrastins. ... RW Cal Clutterbuck (upper body), D Clayton Stoner (lower body) and D Cam Barker (upper body) were out for Minnesota. ... The Wild received two too-many-men penalties in the opening 6:38. ... Theodore has a 3-11-4 record against Dallas. ... Stars RW Adam Burish left in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.
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