Hrudey Simply Fattens Mark Against Stars

Kelly Hrudey doesn’t complicate anything. He made 24 saves Friday night in Dallas, where he extended his personal winning streak against the Stars to five games in San Jose’s 1-0 victory.

That’s Dallas, the NHL’s highest-scoring team until Friday.

And San Jose, which has struggled all season.

“I don’t try to over-analyze things,” Hrudey said after ending the Stars’ seven-game home winning streak. “Each game is a new experience and has a new flavor. I’m just a goalie out there.”

Hrudey was 4-0 against Dallas last season, giving up only four goals.

He was even sharper Friday, especially in the final 10 minutes when the Stars turned up the pressure. He preserved the shutout with 9:42 to play when he made a sliding save on Jere Lehtinen’s shot from point-blank range.

“If you want to win on the road, you’ve got to have good goaltending,” Shark Coach Darryl Sutter said. “They’re [the Stars] the best team in the league. We knew they would come at us, down a goal in the third period. We didn’t panic. If you do, you set yourself up to lose.”

Hrudey, San Jose’s backup goalie, improved his record to a 3-7-1.

Murray Craven got the game’s only goal in the first period, assisted by Todd Gill and Owen Nolan.

Phoenix 2, Pittsburgh 2--Ron Francis scored with 8:38 to play in regulation for the Penguins, who stayed unbeaten in their last six games on the road (5-0-1).

Pittsburgh is 9-0-1 in its last 10 games, but needed Francis’ goal, his 413rd in his 1,200th NHL game, to keep its streak alive.

Philadelphia 3, Chicago 2--Chris Gratton, sought by the Blackhawks, who were outmaneuvered by Philadelphia, scored the tiebreaking goal with 13:19 to play and assisted on a goal by John LeClair in a victory at Chicago.

Colin Forbes added a goal for the Flyers, who have snapped out of an 0-1-3 skid to win on consecutive nights.

Alex Zhamnov and Eric Daze scored for the Chicago, which had third-stringer Andrei Trefilov in goal because of injuries to Jeff Hackett and Chris Terreri. Trefilov’s previous regular-season start was Nov. 26, 1996.

New Jersey 5, Montreal 2--Brian Rolston, Bill Guerin and Steve Thomas scored first-period goals for the Devils, who beat Montreal at East Rutherford, N.J., for their fourth win in a row.

New Jersey, which won for the 13th time in its last 17 games, also got a goals from Bobby Holik and Patrik Elias.

Martin Rucinsky and Mark Recchi scored for Montreal, which saw its four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) come to an end.

Calgary 3, Colorado 1--Jarome Iginla got the decisive goal with 8:21 to play for the Flames, who won their third game in a row, at Calgary.

Flame goaltender Rick Tabaracci made 13 of his 33 saves in the first period, many on good chances, to preserve a 1-0 lead. After beginning the season with one win in his first 12 starts, the rejuvenated Tabaracci has won five of his last seven.

Florida 4, N.Y. Rangers 3--Radek Dvorak, who hadn’t scored in 13 games this season, had two short-handed goals within five minutes during the second period for the Panthers, who won in New York.

The Rangers played amid local media reports of a team shake-up involving either Coach Colin Campbell or a major trade. The Rangers are 1-6-4 in their last 11 games, 9-14-11 overall.

Edmonton 3, Detroit 2--Dan McGillis scored with 4:08 to play for the Oilers, who won in Detroit, beating the Red Wings for the second time in eight days.

McGillis broke a 2-2 tie when he fired a shot from the right point that deflected off the stick of Detroit’s Anders Eriksson and went past goalie Chris Osgood.

Buffalo 3, Carolina 2--Matthew Barnaby scored his first goal of the season, with 15 seconds to play in overtime, to lift the Sabres to a win at Buffalo.

Barnaby took control of the puck at center ice and beat Hurricane goaltender Sean Burke with a hard slap shot from the right circle.