Stars Stay Hot and Unbeaten

You know the Dallas Stars are playing well when they defeat the Detroit Red Wings.

Jere Lehtinen and Sergei Zubov scored goals during a 17-second span in the second period, and the Stars remained unbeaten with a 3-1 victory over the Red Wings on Tuesday night at Dallas.

Dallas (6-0-0), which was 0-10-1 against Detroit the last two seasons, is off to the best start in franchise history.

“Detroit is a team we’ve had problems with the last few years,” Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “But this season we’re doing a better job of neutralizing teams with speed and quickness like Detroit.”

Only seven teams in NHL history have gotten off to better starts than the Stars. The Toronto Maple Leafs hold the league record for most victories at the beginning of the season with a 10-0-0 mark in 1993-94. The Stars are the only unbeaten, untied team in the NHL.

Colorado 7, Edmonton 2--Eric Lacroix got his first career hat trick, Joe Sakic had a career-high six points, and the Avalanche scored on six of their first 14 shots at Denver.

Lacroix, who also had an assist, scored on each of his first three shots, putting home a rebound in the first period and scoring on a diving shot and a faceoff to give the Avalanche a 5-1 lead in the second.

Tampa Bay 4, Buffalo 0--Dino Ciccarelli scored twice at Buffalo, N.Y., and Corey Schwab earned his first career shutout.

Ciccarelli scored in the first two periods while standing in front of the Buffalo net.

New Jersey 3, Montreal 2--Valeri Zelepukin had a goal and two assists, and Martin Brodeur and the Devils defense shut down one of the NHL’s top offenses at East Rutherford, N.J.

Sergei Brylin, whose playing time will increase with the Devils’ decision to waive Neal Broten earlier in the day, and Bill Guerin also scored.

Chicago 3, Toronto 1--Kevin Miller scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and Ed Belfour made 39 saves at Toronto.