Go on, Wedgewood power Stars to 4-0 win over Kings
LOS ANGELES (AP) — One night after blowing a three-goal lead, Tyler Seguin and the Dallas Stars weren’t going to let it happen again.
Seguin led the way in Game 1 with two first-period goals and Scott Wedgewood made 34 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Stars defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-0 on Thursday.
“I think once we got our lead, we didn’t really slow down,” said Southern California native Jason Robertson, who had a goal and an assist. “Our penalty was outstanding. Wedgie too. We went with it and squeezed the game out.”
The Stars, who moved into the lead in the Central Division with a Western Conference-best 61 points, had a 3-0 cushion Wednesday night in San Jose before the Sharks rallied with five unanswered goals. Dallas scored three goals in the first period against the Kings and never trailed.
In addition to being motivated by Wednesday’s crunch, Dallas took advantage of a Los Angeles team coming off its first four-day break of the season.
Seguin also had an assist to match a season high with three points. It was his 44th multi-goal game with the Stars. Only teammate Jamie Benn has more with Dallas (45) among active skaters.
Seguin has eight points (five goals, three assists) in his six games centering the first line since Roope Hintz was sidelined with an upper-body injury.
“Yeah, it’s great. I know how to play with these guys and I have fun playing with them,” Seguin said. “I know I’m just keeping Roope’s seat warm, but they’re great players and I’m able to find open spaces.”
Wedgewood improved to 3-2 in his career against the Kings and picked up his sixth NHL shutout.
“Obviously, they’ve been hot and they’ve been a bit of a step through the league in the last month, more than a month. So to come in here after what happened last time and walk away with two points is huge for us,” he said.
Los Angeles had won four of six, but was shut out for the third time since Dec. 8. The Kings were 0-for-4 on the power play after scoring seven times in 18 chances this month.
Pheonix Copley, who fell to 12-3, allowed four goals on 17 shots before being pulled. Jonathan Quick stopped seven shots in the remaining 33 minutes.
“There’s no way the team down the hall with the leaders and the coach they have is going to give up a three-goal lead in back-to-back games,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “We created our own self-inflicted misery early on. and tried to find our game as the game went on.”
Seguin opened the scoring at 6:54 of the first when his quick shot from the top of the slot went off the inside of Copley’s blocker and then through the legs.
The Stars center scored his second goal of the opening period for the first time since 2017 with a shot from the left faceoff circle at 17:20. Esa Lindell made it 3-0 just 84 seconds later when her quick shot from the slot hit the post and went in.
Robertson chased Copley at 7:27 of the second with his second layup attempt. Robertson was stopped on his first attempt before climbing the stairs and beating Copley on the short side.
Robertson, who grew up 20 minutes from downtown Los Angeles in Arcadia, is tied for fourth in the league with 31 goals. The forward has three goals and six points in three games against the Kings this season.
UNTIL THE NEXT
Stars: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
Kings: Begin a six-game road trip Saturday against the Nashville Predators.
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