DALLAS — The Kings went into Friday night’s game against the Dallas Stars having allowed an NHL-low 34 goals in the first period.
The surging Stars blitzed them for three in the first 20 minutes then doubled their total before the game was over, handing the Kings a 6-2 loss.
Logan Stankoven scored twice, Roope Hintz had a career-high four assists and Arcadia product Jason Robertson had his 25th goal and an assist for the Stars, who were playing at home for the first time in 26 days. Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston had power-play goals and Sam Steel scored a short-hander for a Dallas team that has won four of its past five games and has scored at least four goals in six straight games.
Jake Oettinger stopped 29 shots while getting his 28th win, matching the second-most in the NHL.
The Kings got goals from Warren Foegele and Trevor Moore, who poked a wraparound shot past Oettinger’s extended right skate. Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves on a night when Dallas also had at least two other pucks ricochet off the post.
It was the only regulation loss for the Kings in the eight games they played in February. They finished 5-1-2, with one loss coming in shootout and another in overtime.
Robertson scored from below the left circle off a rebound to give Dallas a 1-0 lead at 4:21 of the first period.
The Kings tied it 1-1 at 6:44 after Phillip Danault made a short pass to Foegele, who was cutting to the net, and he hit the net from in close for his fifth goal in the past seven games.
Kings forward Tanner Jeannot was whistled for double-minor high-sticking with 10 minutes left in the first, and Duchene scored with one second left on the first penalty to give the Stars a 2-1 lead at 11:59. His 24th goal of the season came via a nifty pass from Hintz and a secondary assist from Robertson.
After Oettinger denied Foegele on a short-handed breakaway during the second penalty, Stankoven scored on a rebound just seconds after it expired for a 3-1 lead at 14:11.
The Stars were on a power play when Johnston tipped in a point shot from Hintz to increase the lead to 4-1 at 4:57 of the second period.
Moore scored on a wraparound to trim the lead to 4-2 at 13:51 of the second.
Stankoven was the first to a rebound in front of Kuemper, and he waited the goalie out before sliding the puck across the goal line for a 5-2 lead at 4:06 of the third period.
Steel scored on a short-handed breakaway to make it 6-2 at 6:19.
WELCOME HOME
After not being home since Feb. 2, the Stars played the first of four games in seven days at the American Airlines Center, where they improved to 21-7-1. Dallas had three road games before the league’s 4 Nations Face-Off break, then resumed play with three more on the road.
UP NEXT
The Kings play at St. Louis on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT.