Bachman, Fiddler spark Stars past Kings

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars got stellar performances from two somewhat unlikely sources.

Backup goaltender Richard Bachman made 22 saves and Vernon Fiddler supplied three points in a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings before announced crowd of 16,367 on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.

"Obviously, I'm not here to score goals but it's always nice to contribute," Fiddler said. "We've lost some guys that produce offense and some of us have to step up and contribute. It can't be (Benn) and (Whitney) and those guys every night.

"We need guys to contribute throughout the lineup and right now we're getting it."

Ray Whitney also had two goals for Dallas in the win.

Bachman came on for starter Kari Lehtonen, who suffered a lower-body injury with 5:42 remaining before the first intermission.

"At least I had a solid, 15-20 minutes to prepare, and it's nice because it's early in the game, you're still a little warm from warm-ups, you haven't been sitting there for two hours yet," Bachman said. "And so as soon as he (Lehtonen) bolted off, I knew I was going in."

Lehtonen was making his 19th straight start in net for Dallas but did not return. Bachman stopped all 22 shots he faced. Lehtonen had stopped seven of the eight shots he faced before his premature exit.

"Yeah, he has a lower-body injury. It's mild and we'll reassess it tomorrow," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said of Lehtonen's status.

Trevor Daley also had two assists for Dallas.

The Stars got a goal from Alex Goligoski in the first period. Whitney and Fiddler each scored twice in the third period. Drew Doughty had the lone goal for the Kings.

"No (I'm not surprised by tonight's result)," Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter said. "We turned the puck over pretty regularly tonight. Think it eventually got to us."

Los Angeles had taken an early lead when Doughty netted his fourth goal of the year just 1:13 into the game. Doughty's 25-foot wrist shot from the right faceoff circle came with the Kings on the power play.

The Kings gained the man advantage for four minutes after Dallas winger Loui Eriksson, a 2011 NHL All-Star, received a double-minor for a high stick on Los Angeles Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr just 34 seconds into the game. Eriksson's infraction produced a small cut below Regehr's right eye, which drew blood, leading to the automatic four-minute penalty.

However, Dallas tied it 1-1 at 11:16 of the first when Goligoski connected on a 17-foot slap shot that beat Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. It was just the second goal of the season for Goligoski, who currently leads Dallas with 20 assists.

At 15:32 of the first, the Stars had another great scoring chance when Whitney attempted to score off a 7-foot wraparound at the far post. However, Quick denied him and quickly smothered the puck to stop play.

The second period was uneventful until the 9:40 mark when Dallas defenseman Aaron Rome received a double-minor after drawing blood on Los Angeles' Mike Richards after a high stick. But unlike the double-minor on Eriksson in the first period, the Dallas penalty kill rose to the occasion and killed off the four-minute power play with great precision.

Dallas put the Kings on the power play for the fourth time in the game at 15:24 of the second when defenseman Stephane Robidas high-sticked Los Angeles' Dustin Brown. But the Stars' penalty kill hung tough, absorbing six Kings shots with the man advantage to keep it 1-1.

With 1:08 remaining before the second intermission, Dustin Richardson looked to pull the Kings ahead again but saw his 15-foot wrister careen off the near post. Slava Voynov saw his initial shot, an awkward attempt from 62 feet, denied by a Bachman pad save, but Richardson collected the rebound and missed the Dallas net by mere inches.

The Stars hit the ice energized to begin the third. An 18-foot wrist shotby Jamie Benn at 36 seconds was denied by Quick, but the Kings goaltender temporarily lost track of the puck.

However, Dallas did take its first lead of the night at 52 seconds when Whitney converted for his eighth goal of the year, sending a 26-foot wrist shot from the high slot over Quick's glove. Stars rookie Alex Chiasson picked up his first NHL assist on the goal after feeding Whitney.

Fiddler then netted his first of two in the third period at 7:58, redirecting a long-range blast by Robidas into the left side of the visiting net. Whitney then scored his second of the period at 11:06, beating Quick with a 12-foot wrister after the Kings lost possession near their own blue line.

Fiddler then scored again after his shot at 13:56 looked to deflect off a Kings player in front of the net, making it 5-1 with 6:04 remaining.

"We didn't really play our game in the first. The third was just a terrible period for us," Kopitar said. "Our line, we can't get scored on four times in one period. It definitely wasn't good."

Gulutzan was particularly pleased to see such balanced scoring from his club recently.

"Well, they're all working. They've given us hard games. They've played hard. They've given us effort every game. It's nice for them to get rewarded, especially (Vernon) Fiddler and (Ray) Whitney. When you're spreading the scoring around, it gives everybody else a little bit of confidence," Gulutzan said. "That's all guys need and this is the right time of year to have it."

Quick stopped just 26 of 31 shots he faced.

NOTES: Center Colin Fraser, defenseman Alec Martinez and center Tyler Toffoli were the healthy scratches for the Kings, and Benn was the lone scratch for the Stars. ... Dallas winger Lane MacDermid, acquired in the trade with Boston on April 2 that sent Jaromir Jagr to the Bruins, missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury and Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said after morning skate that MacDermid would miss about a week of games. ... Dallas honored former goaltender Ed Belfour before the game for his inclusion on the Stars' 20th Anniversary Team. Belfour was a key member of the Stars' 1999 Stanley Cup championship team and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012. ... Fiddler, who assisted on Goligoski's first-period goal, now has an assist in four straight games. ... Kings winger Dustin Penner returned to the ice for the first time since March 31 at Dallas. Penner had missed the last four games with a lower-body injury.