Loui Eriksson emerges as hero for Dallas Stars edging Los Angeles Kings 5-4 in shootout - NHL Update
The Dallas Stars edge closer to the sacred ground of the playoffs with a 5-4 shootout victory, in a thrilling match against playoff rivals, Los Angeles Kings, at the packed Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, USA.
The Stars are now just a single point behind the Minnesota Wild, who occupy the eighth spot in the standings as they improved their record to 24-17-1.
Dallas has now won three out of its previous five games.
Stars goaltender, Kari Lehtonen, had a busy night in front of the goal as he blocked 37 shots to keep Dallas in the game.
Los Angeles Kings have missed another opportunity to move ahead of the chasing pack and secure their playoff berth, after the loss.
The Kings are now 21-15-8 and seventh in the Western Conference standings.
Stars’ forward, Loui Eriksson was proud of the team’s efforts and praised his teammates’ mental strength to keep pace with the Kings.
"We always play tight games against L.A., but we came back pretty good and finally won the game", Eriksson said.
"So it's two big points for us. It was really intense out there. I thought we took too many penalties, but we stuck with it and found a way. We played a hardworking game the whole way through".
Dallas Stars opened the scoring in the first period as Loui Eriksson put the puck past Jonathan Quick, who made 34 saves during the game and has been voted to the All-Star team this year.
The goal came at 14:04 and just a few seconds later, Eric Nystrom put the Stars two goals up at 14:55.
The Kings however, were not intimidated and pegged back a goal through Anze Kopitar, who beat Lehtonen with a power play goal in the second period at 6:16.
Stars regained a two goal advantage just a minute later with Alex Goligoski putting Stars up, three goals to two.
The back and forth attacks continued and the Kings made it 3-2 at 9:22 of the second period as Trevor Lewis scored his first goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
The Kings started the third period on fire as Jack Johnson equalised at 6:38 with a big power play goal, and the Kings took the driving seat with Dustin Brown beating Lehtonen at 8:55 for another added man advantage.
It was still anybody’s game, and Stars were not going to take the loss easily.
Eriksson found himself in a open position at 14:35 with the Stars on the power play, putting the puck past Quick to equalise the score and send the game into overtime.
Both teams tried to win in a sudden death overtime but could not find the back of the net with the shootout round becoming the decider for this exciting match.
Eriksson became a Stars' hero, beating Quick for the third time and giving the Stars a much needed win.
The Stars will welcome a struggling Colorado Avalanche at home on Saturday, while the Kings hope to beat Calgary Flames the same day.
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