Patrick Sharp’s goal boosts Stars past Hurricanes

The Hurricanes coughed up a lead in the 4-1 loss to Dallas on Friday, dropping to 1-4-0 at home in the early going.

Ales Hemsky and Jason Demers also scored and Colton Sceviour had two assists for the Stars. Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, and Elias Lindholm had a few extremely solid shifts and put pressure on Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen, but there were a few good saves and missed opportunities.

He stopped both Eric Staal and Jordan Staal on the initial shot and the rebound to help keep the Hurricanes scoreless.

“We kept at it and kept at it, and we were fortunate enough to get rewarded at the end”, said Staal, who has scored a goal in three straight games. Establishing themselves as possibly the best team in the Western Conference thus far, the Stars played with a winner’s confidence that was evident at the beginning of the game and never waned.

The Stars improved to 6-2-0 in their last eight games vs. Carolina dating to November 29, 2010 (CAR: 2-5-1). Lack closed down the five-hole, and kept the score tied 1-1 at 1:30 of the third period.

The Hurricanes did a pretty good job as the game went on with boxing the Stars players to the outsides of the ice and cutting down on the number of high scoring chances right in front of the net.

“We talked about how we needed to be a desperate team and for the most part we were”, said Carolina coach Bill Peters, who watched his team outshoot the Senators 18-5 in the third and 3-0 in the overtime.

“Skinny had a huge goal for us”.

The Stars took the lead with 8:45 left as Sharp beat Lack stick-side on a rush with Tyler Seguin on the centering pass.

Down 1-0, the Rangers scored two second-period goals in a span of 21 seconds, the latter, by Oscar Lindberg, standing as his first career game-winning goal, to defeat the Colorado Avalanche.

Faulk scored his NHL-leading fifth power-play goal of the season to give the Hurricanes the lead.

Carolina Hurricanes’ Ron Hainsey, left, battles Ottawa Senators’ Mike Hoffman, right, for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, November 7, 2015.

Jordan Staal put Carolina ahead at 3:41 of the second, knocking in a backhander from the low slot that clipped Lehtonen’s right skate before wobbling across the line.

Dallas tied it at 9:46 when Hemsky scored on a tough-angle goal from the left side into an open net. Carolina challenged for goaltender interference, but video officials ruled no interference. Cam Ward, who has posted four of Carolina’s five victories and owns a 2.44 goals-against average in 10 contests, likely will be back in net against Ottawa after Eddie Lack played Friday.