Jaromir Jagr tallies two goals as Stars down Kings

Los Angeles, CA, United States (4E Sports) – Jaromir Jagr tallied two goals as the Dallas Stars pulled away with three goals in the third period en route to a 5-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings Thursday at Staples Center.

Captain Brendan Morrow and Antoine Roussel also scored in the third period as the Stars improved to 12-9-2 after winning three of their last four games.

Cody Eakin delivered his fourth goal via power play while goaltender Kari Lehtonen stopped 31 shots for the Stars, who ended the Kings’ six-game home winning streak.

“We know they’re a great team,” Morrow said. “To do it in this building — to come with the third, staying disciplined, everything we talked about for our keys to the game — we end up executing, so it feels pretty good.”

Los Angeles was playing its third game in four nights and Dallas had three days’ rest, but Kings coach Darryl Sutter predictably dismissed that as a factor.

“No excuse for it,” said Sutter, who got goals from Trevor Lewis and Jeff Carter in the first and second quarters, respectively, before they were shut down by Lehtonen.

Netminder Jonathan Quick tallied 17 saves for the Kings, who had outscored opponents, 25-12, in the third period and were coming off a great late comeback Tuesday, when they scored five unanswered goals to beat St. Louis, 6-4.

Jagr got the first power-play goal 5:28 into the game on a tap-in off a perfect pass from Jamie Benn before Lewis tied the game minutes later with his third goal of the season.

In the second, Carter scored his 16th goal to put the Kings ahead, 2-1. Carter, second in the NHL in goals behind Tampa Bay’s Steve Stamkos (18), now has 30 goals in 58 games, including the Stanley Cup playoffs, since he arrived in Los Angeles last spring.

Dallas tied the game at 2-2 with 1:14 remaining in the second period when Eakin collected a loose puck and popped in a power-play backhander past Quick.

In the third, Morrow slipped unnoticed in front of the Kings’ net and put home Reilly Smith’s pass at 6:21 of the third to break a 2-2 tie.

Jagr completed a two-goal game 3:19 later on a fat rebound before Roussel wrapped up the win by hitting the empty net with 1:41 remaining.

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