Stars looking for more against hot Hurricanes

Dallas put everything together, in a big way, in its most important game of the season Thursday.

Can the Stars do it again when they host the Carolina Hurricanes in Dallas on Saturday?

The Stars are coming off a 5-2 home win over St. Louis, snapping their three-game losing streak and ending the Blues' franchise-record 11-game winning streak.

Now they have to battle Carolina, which beat the Stars last week and has been one of the league's hottest teams since the start of 2019.

Dallas, which had lost five of six games, dominated throughout Thursday's game. The Stars got three goals in a 6:12 stretch of the second period and then clamped down on defense in the final 20 minutes, riding the 43-save performance of goaltender Anton Khudobin, who was making his season-high seventh consecutive start.

"It was a huge win," Stars forward Blake Comeau told NHL.com.

"We were desperate for points. We did some things well, but there are some things that we've got to clean up. (Khudobin) stood on his head when we needed him, and we got some timely goals. We've got to make sure we carry that momentum into the next game."

Jamie Benn scored twice in the game, and Radek Faksa and Tyler Seguin each added a goal and an assist. Alexander Radulov also lit the lamp for the Stars.

Benn, who has 21 goals, has reached the 20-goal mark for the ninth time in his 10 seasons with the Stars. The only time Benn didn't score 20 goals was the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.

"A win is two points, and that's all we really care about," Benn said. "It's nice to win a hockey game. It just came down to hard work. The last two games weren't the best, but you live and learn -- you move on."

Before the game, the Stars activated goaltender Ben Bishop from injured reserve and he backed up Khudobin. Bishop, who had missed the previous six games with an upper-body injury, is expected to be in net Saturday.

Carolina heads to Big D on the heels of a 4-3 victory at Florida on Thursday, when Justin Williams scored two goals, including the game-winner on the power play early in the third period.

Williams also scored the Hurricanes' first goal of the game when he deflected a shot by Brett Pesce into the net with his face -- his right cheek, to be exact. Williams got four stitches for the gash and returned to lead Carolina to the win, its seventh in its past nine games.

The Hurricanes are 17-6-1, dating to a win on Dec. 31.

"Thank God it was Pesce -- if it was anyone else, I probably would have broken my jaw," Williams joked afterward. "You go to the net, and sometimes you get hit. Fortunately, the puck went in. It feels a little better now."

Nico Niederreiter added a goal and an assist, and Justin Faulk scored a goal for Carolina. Peter Mrazek stopped 27 shots for the Hurricanes.

"(Williams), what a game," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "He gets banged up. He's the catalyst for everything and everyone followed behind him and pulled it out."

Veteran center Jordan Staal, who has been out with a concussion, is expected to play his first game since Dec. 22 on Saturday.

The Hurricanes defeated Dallas 3-0 last Saturday in the only other matchup between the teams this season.

--Field Level Media