Devin Shore, Tyler Seguin and Mattias Janmark scored second-period goals Thursday night as the Dallas Stars erased an early deficit to beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 17 shots to win a battle of backup goalies. Scott Wedgewood absorbed the loss for Arizona after making 21 saves on 24 shots. The Coyotes fell for the 39th time in 51 games and remain the NHL's worst team with only 33 points.

Arizona was able to get off to a quick start. The Coyotes stormed the Dallas zone in the first four minutes, and the payoff came at 4:06. Defenseman Kevin Connauton used a Christian Fischer screen and wired a wrister from the top of the right circle to Lehtonen's short side for his second goal of the season.

But the Stars, coming off a listless 3-0 loss Tuesday night to the Los Angeles Kings, finally found some juice in the second period. They tied the game at 3:00 as the result of a fluky play and great hand-eye coordination by Shore.

Jason Spezza tried to make a pass from behind the net, but it was tipped by a defender and fluttered over Wedgewood. Shore took a half-swing and batted the puck home for his seventh goal.

That started the chain of bad hockey that frequently bedevils a struggling team. The Coyotes took a penalty 82 seconds after Shore's goal, Connauton going off for interference. Predictably, Dallas cashed in with the tiebreaking tally.

John Klingberg's wrister banged off the left post and caromed directly to Shore. He fed an open Seguin in the slot, and Seguin made no mistake at 5:21 for his 24th goal.

Janmark upped the advantage to 3-1 at 13:24, directing a wrister from the goal line off the right post through Wedgewood's pads for his 14th goal.

Esa Lindell tacked on an empty-net goal at 18:24 of the third period, his sixth tally of the season. The result allowed Dallas to stay in fourth place in the Central Division with 62 points.

--Field Level Media