Stars' best players fuel 5-2 win over Predators

Your best players have to be your best players and Stars coach Lindy Ruff put three of his best players on one line Thursday night, and they delivered. Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Jason Spezza combined for eight points as the Stars defeated the Nashville Predators 5-2 at American Airlines Center.
"It's been no secret around here that our top players haven't been our top players. That's something we take personally," Benn said. "We need to be better. It was nice to get this one but it was only one and we need to continue this."
Benn and Spezza both had one goal and two assists and Seguin had one goal and one assist. Benn scored just his second five-on-five goal of the season. Spezza's goal ended a 12-game goal-scoring drought.
"We've shown good chemistry in the past, and when we play together we know we have to be good," Spezza said. "It was good to have an impact as a line. We need to get things going in the right way, and the three of us have to be good to do that."
The Stars, who were coming off an up and down performance in a 2-1 loss to Calgary on Tuesday, went through a hard practice on Wednesday and came out strong from the drop of the puck Thursday. They grabbed a 2-0 lead midway through the first period and never looked back, playing a solid 60 minutes.
"Obviously, our last game was not Dallas Stars hockey, and then you get put through a tough practice, you come out with a much better effort tonight," said Benn. "We're all satisfied with tonight, but we have to learn how to be more consistent."

Antoine Roussel recorded one goal and one assist and Brett Ritchie also scored. Kari Lehtonen stopped 34 of 36 shots for the Stars, who won for just the second time in the past six games and improved to 11-11-6 on the season.
The Predators (12-10-4) lost for the fourth time in their past six games (2-3-1) and fell to 3-8-2 on the road.
"Well, [Dallas] showed up to play and we were a no-show," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said.
The Stars came out with a lot of jump in the first period. Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak led the way, throwing four big hits on his first shift of the night.
"What a shift, huh?" Seguin said. "He came back to the bench and he was laughing. That was a man shift. When you see a guy doing that, it lifts the whole team."
"It's that type of compete that takes the edge off an opponent," said Stars coach Lindy Ruff. "They had to be thinking these guys are ready to compete."
The Stars then scored two goals in 23 seconds midway through the first to take a 2-0 lead. Spezza sent a cross-ice pass that went off the stick of Seguin and to Benn, who scored from the slot at the 9:55 mark. It was his 200th career goal.
"It felt like any other goal. It's not really a big deal to me," Benn said. "It's much better to get two points and get a win."
Then Roussel set up Ritchie, who scored from the slot off the rush at the 10:18 mark to put the Stars up 2-0.
The Stars went on their second power play of the game late in the first period, and Nashville scored shorthanded to cut the Dallas lead to 2-1. Stars defenseman John Klingberg broke his stick on a shot from the point that led to an odd-man rush that Nashville's Viktor Arvidsson finished off when Lehtonen couldn't handle his shot from the left circle.
The Predators came out with some good pressure early in the second period, but the Stars countered with a goal by Spezza, who came off the left wall, sliced through the Nashville defense and slipped the puck past Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne to make it 3-1 at 3:27 of the second period. It was Spezza's first goal since Nov. 3.
"It's been a while for me, so I'd be lying if I didn't say it felt good," Spezza said. "It was nice to get one by the goalie."
The Stars extended the lead to 4-1 a little more than two minutes later when Lauri Korpikoski set up Roussel, who scored from close range at 5:47 of the second. That ended the night for Rinne, who stopped 14 of 18 shots. Marek Mazanec played the rest of the way in goal for the Predators.
The Stars made it 5-1 with 43.8 seconds left in the second when Seguin scored off a blast with Dallas on the power play. Nashville ended up with 21 shots in the second, but Lehtonen stopped them all.
Calle Jarnkrok roofed a shot from the right circle off the rush to make it a 5-2 game at 15:09 of the third, but a couple minutes later Lehtonen came up with a great pad save on Frederick Gaudreau to keep Nashville from getting any closer and helping seal a much-needed win for the Stars.
"It was a lot more fun tonight. We were doing the right things, and we were getting rewarded," Seguin said. "Everyone played a great game, it was a full 60 minutes. We've got to find some consistency. We've been up and down, and we've got to win a couple in a row."
Notes: Eakin a scratch
\Stars forward Cody Eakin was the healthy scratch at forward Thursday night. Stars coach Lindy Ruff discussed the move after the game.
"He hasn't played very well. His numbers were down, and I didn't like his previous game," Ruff said. "I met with him a couple of times on we've got to get the compete up and get to the front of the net. We are in tough right now, and we need everybody on board. We need everybody going hard. It's not easy and not something that any player wants to have happen but it's not the getting scratched that matters to me, it's the response afterwards."
\Tyler Seguin now has 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) and is tied for second in the NHL in scoring.
\Brett Ritchie's goal was his seventh of the season, setting a new career-high for goals in a season.
\The Stars outshot the Predators 37-36. Nashville had a 69-68 edge in shot attempts.
\Brett Ritchie and Adam Cracknell led the Stars with 6 shots on goal apiece.
\The Stars were 1-5 on the power play and 3-3 on the penalty kill.
\The Stars won 32 of 75 faceoffs (43 percent).
\Esa Lindell led the Stars with 22:47 of ice time. John Klingberg was next with 22:28.
What's Next
The Stars head out on the road for two games, a back-to-back set this weekend. They play at Philadelphia Saturday and then at Chicago on Sunday.
Stars Lineup
Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Jason Spezza
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Brett Ritchie
Curtis McKenzie - Devin Shore - Adam Cracknell
Lauri Korpikoski - Jason Dickinson - Patrick Eaves
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Stephen Johns
Patrik Nemeth - Jamie Oleksiak
Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi
Scratched: Cody Eakin, Jordie Benn
Injured: Julius Honka (upper body), Johnny Oduya (lower body), Jiri Hudler (illness), Patrick Sharp (concussion-like symptoms), Mattias Janmark (knee), Ales Hemsky (hip)
Watch: Postgame Quotes
Lindy Ruff:
"I thought our compete around the net-front, around the back of the net, hanging on to pucks was the best it's been all year."
Jamie Benn:
"We're all satisfied with tonight, but we have to learn how to be more consistent."
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.