Boyle's 100th career goal helps Devils defeat Stars
NEWARK, NJ -- Brian Boyle made his 100th career goal a memorable one Friday night as the New Jersey Devils beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 at the Prudential Center.
Steven Santini, Blake Coleman and Nick Lappin also scored for the Devils (18-9-5) as Boyle recorded three points and Brian Gibbons added a pair of assists.
The Stars (18-14-1), who lost for the first time in their four-game road trip after beating the Rangers and Islanders, received goals from Martin Hanzal and Alexander Radulov. The loss kept Stars coach Ken Hitchcock from becoming only the third coach in NHL history to win 800 games as he remains stuck at 799.
Boyle scored his milestone goal at 16:39 of the second period to snap a 2-2 tie. Camped in front of the net, Boyle overpowered Stars defenseman John Klingberg to bury a rebound of Will Butcher's power-play shot while falling to the ice.
When he rose, Boyle jawed at Klingberg, who six minutes prior was penalized for cross checking Boyle into the boards. That set off a scuffle between the Devils center and Stars defenseman Greg Pateryn, ultimately landing Boyle a two-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and a 10-minute misconduct and Pateryn a two-minute minor.
After serving his penalties, Boyle added to his big night with a secondary assist on Lappin's first goal of the season at 12:57 of the third period, which provided New Jersey a two-goal cushion, 4-2. Boyle then capped it off with an empty-net goal, his eighth of the season, at 18 minutes of the third.
Santini's goal at 4:28 of the first period gave the home team an early lead, but Hanzal answered for the Stars less than two minutes later.
Coleman cashed in on a rebound to make it 2-1 Devils at 19:06 of the first, and New Jersey nearly made it 3-1 moments later, but Pavel Zacha's shot into the net failed to beat the clock.
Dallas pulled even again at 8:09 of the second when Radulov scored his 11th goal by powering past Butcher and beating Devils goalie Cory Schneider five-hole.
Schneider finished with 28 saves. He stopped all 13 shots he faced in the third period.
NOTES: Devils coach John Hynes said before the game that injured LW Taylor Hall, RW Kyle Palmieri and LW Marcus Johansson all skated Friday morning on their own, and the plan is for all three to take part in a full team practice Sunday and possibly be available to play Monday against the Anaheim Ducks. ... The Devils scratched Hall (knee), D Dalton Prout and D Ben Lovejoy, while Palmieri (broken foot) and Johansson (ankle) remain on injured reserve. ... Stars LW Antoine Roussel returned to the lineup after missing two games with an elbow injury. ... The Stars scratched C Jason Dickinson, D Jamie Oleksiak and C Gemel Smith.