DALLAS - Alex Chiasson needed a break, and he got one. Steve Carlton . The result was a game-winning, power-play goal. Chiasson snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory on Monday night. Stars coach Lindy Ruff earned his 600th NHL win, and he got it against his former team. Ruffs first 571 wins came with Buffalo. "It means Im on my way to 700, hopefully," Ruff said. "It means that Ive had a lot of good players and good teams. Those wins belong to those players." Chiassons goal was his first in 13 games, and he wasnt the only player who broke a scoring drought. Alex Goligoski put Dallas ahead briefly 2-1 with his third goal this season after 48 games without one. "He has looked refreshed and energized," Ruff said of Chiasson. "He needed one to go in." Jordie Benn hadnt scored until he tied the game 1-1 in the second period with his first goal in 12 games. He knew what a victory would mean for Ruff. "Obviously, its huge to get that win for him," he said. "Hes a very decorated guy, a great guy and a great coach." The Stars opened a two-point lead over their closest pursuers for eighth place in the Western Conference. Dallas (29-22-10) has 68 points. Winnipeg and Vancouver both have 66. Tyler Ennis scored twice for Buffalo, with Matt Moulson assisting on both goals. The second got the Sabres even at 3:23 of the third. Ray Whitney had two assists for the Stars after moving during the game on to a line with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, Dallas two leading scorers. Chiasson, a rookie forward, was frustrated because Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth stopped six of his team-high seven shots on goal. Then, at 10:25 of the third period, Chiasson skated in front of Enroth and deflected Jamie Benns slap shot from the blue line into the net for the winning goal. What Chiasson couldnt do with his stick, he accomplished with his leg. "Sometimes youre going to need help from other people, but we need Jamie," he said. "Look at the first goal, Jamie was right there (screening Enroth). And then on the last one, his shot hit me in the shin guard." Enroth complained, but the goal stood. "Something happened there you couldnt really see on the replay," the goalie said, "but the ref told me it was (teammate Mike) Weber that kind of got his stick in my glove or whatever happened there." Chiasson said that the Stars 19-day Olympics break helped him. "I went through a phase where I couldnt see the light out of the tunnel," he said. "It seems like the break came at the right time. I put some weight back on, and I felt rested." Enroth made 36 saves, and Dallas Kari Lehtonen had 21. "The first couple periods, I didnt think we were in the game at all. If it wasnt for Jhonas, I dont think that the score would have been as close as it was," Sabres coach Ted Nolan said. "I thought in the third period we played a bit better. We took a bad penalty, again. They capitalized, and that was the difference." Dallas dominated the first period everywhere but on the scoreboard as the Sabres took a 1-0 lead. The Stars recorded 14 of the first 17 shots, but failed to score on three power plays despite putting seven shots on goal. Dallas nearly gave up a short-handed goal on the third advantage, but Matt DAgostinis shot hit the crossbar. The Sabres scored on their next shot. Drew Stafford skated in on the left side, and when Dallas Trevor Daley slid on the ice to try to block a shot, Stafford passed the puck across to Ennis, who scored at 17:17. Dallas outshot the Sabres 16-5 in the period, which ended with Enroth stopping Chiassons close-range backhand. Chiasson put a team-high four shots on goal in the first, including some of the Stars best chances. Enroth had stopped Chiassons slap shot on Dallas first power play, as well as two slap shots by Cody Eakin. The Stars tied it 1:30 into the second period when Jordie Benn sent a slap shot from the left point past his brother Jamies screen, and past Enroth. Six seconds before the period ended, Gologoski scored. Ryan Garbutt deflected Trevor Daleys slap shot off the post. Shawn Horcoff gathered in the rebound and sent a backhanded pass across the goalmouth to Goligoski, who scored into the left side of the net. The Stars had a 12-9 advantage in shots, for a two-period total of 28-14. Buffalo tied it when Moulsons shot went over the net but bounced back off the glass to Ennis, who tucked the puck into the lower right corner. The loss ended a season-best three-game winning streak for Buffalo (18-35-8). NOTES: The Stars were 1 for 26 on power plays in their previous seven games. ... Eakin left the game with 3 minutes remaining, but Ruff said there was no serious injury. ... Jamie Benn has six goals, nine assists in his last 11 games. ... Enroth has stopped 101 of 110 shots in his last three games. ... In his last four games against Dallas, Moulson has six goals, two assists. ... Buffalo was penalized six times; the Stars only once. "I just think it was typical last-place calls to a playoff-team calls, and thats just the way life works once in a while," Nolan said. Tyler ONeill . On July 27 cyclings best-known race will host "La Course by Le Tour de France" -- a one-day womens competition staged hours before Tour riders race on the same circuit to finish the three-week event on Paris Champs-Elysees. Daniel Ponce de Leon . This week, topics cover the World Series champion Red Sox, John Farrell and what to look forward to this off-season. Before the hockey town that Wayne Gretzky built hosted its first outdoor game at Dodger Stadium, The Great One made a rare Hollywood move by going on "Conan" to promote it. In an 11-minute interview on the late-night show with host Conan OBrien, Gretzky reflected on his trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, his guest appearance on "Saturday Night Live" and several aspects of his on-ice playing career. Beyond all his records and his place in hockey history, Gretzkys Hollywood persona wouldnt have been as pronounced if it were not for that trade 25 1/2 years ago. "It was hard for especially people in Edmonton because they werent just fans, they were friends of mine. A lot of the people that go to all the games, I knew from all the years of being in Edmonton," Gretzky said of the deal. "So it was difficult for everyone. But you look back at it now and everything happens for a reason and we love it here in L.A. and the NHL is thriving here and everyone seems to be doing OK." The Oilers won their fifth Stanley Cup in 1990 without Gretzky and made it to the final in 2006 before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Kings made it to the final in 1993 with Gretzky before losing to the Montreal Canadiens, then won their first title in franchise history in 2012. Edmonton hasnt made the playoffs since 2006 and is still in a rebuilding stage. Just now is a new downtown arena under construction. But Gretzky was on "Conan" for the NHLs Stadium Series debut, which is Saturday between the Kings and the league-leading Anaheim Ducks. He called the game happening at Dodger Stadium a "real big dream." Even before this promotional tour, the "Great One" said he was an advocate of outdoor hockey in Los Angeles. "Id love to see an outdoor game in L.A. because we see the Winter Classic and the Heritage Classic with the snow and thats all wonderful. But a big part of our game, too, now and the success of the National Hockey League is California and places like that," Gretzky said before the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony in November. "Its going to be wonderful to see people sitting at Dodger Stadium when its 65 degrees (F) and theyre sitting there in shorts and T-shirts and enjoying a National Hockey League game. I think its going to be wonderful for our sport." It should be roughly 19 C (66 F) when the puck drops around 6:30 Pacific time Saturday night. When Gretzky and the Kings faced the New York Rangers in an exhibition game in Las Vegas in 1991, temperatures ranged between 29 and 35 C. Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said after a California heat wave last week he was looking forward to cooler temperatures for this game. "I think its going to be completely unique and its going to be tremendous playing in 60-degree weather outside under the stars," Boudreau said. "I think a lot of people will be real interested to see how that works." Ice technology has improved drastically in the 22-plus years since that Las Vegas game. As Gretzky acknowledged during his appearance on "Conan," so has the NHL, in general. OBrien asked Gretzky about a so-called unwritten rule that opponents wouldnt hit him, which the former Kings captain refuted. "I didnt get hit as much as people probably wanted me to get hit, especially on the opposing teams," Gretzky said. "I knew it was time to retire when I was playing my last year and people I was playing against before they wouuld hit me, they would scream my name or say, Hey, heads up or, Wayne, get out of the way, or Here we are. Yadier Molina . I remember thinking, Wow, somethings not right about this." Gretzky then told a story about going to a game with his wife and two sons and sitting in the front row when one of them said to their mother: "Be really honest, did dad really play in this league?" When Gretzky did play in the NHL, he set career records with 894 goals, 1,963 assists and 2,857 points and single-season ones along the way, including 92 goals in 1981-82. OBrien asked if Gretzky thought "some punk kid" was going to come along and score 93 in a season. "Records are made to be broken," Gretzky said. "When I grew up my idol was Gordie Howe, and he couldnt have been any nicer, couldnt have been any better. He was just a really good man. When I broke his records, he was always the first guy there. "So if anybody ever breaks my records, Ill be the first guy to shake his hand. The players are good today, theres a lot of good players. Nevers a long time." Gretzky went on to say his record he believes will be the hardest to break is 50 goals in 39 games, "because 50 goals in 38 games is a lot of goals." "Yes," OBrien responded. "Thats pretty good. Well see." Gretzky said that being the smallest but never the fastest or toughest player at any point of his hockey-playing career made him consistent in his style. When OBrien brought up the topic of "Gretzkys Office," and his penchant to control the flow of play from behind the net, Gretzky credited Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke. "I had a coach when I was 14 years old that said: Go watch this guy Bobby Clarke play and watch how he plays. Hes not very big, hes smart, he passes the puck and he plays sort of from the corner and a little bit behind the net," Gretzky recalled. "So at the age of 14 I started watching him day in and day out. "He probably had the most influence on my career as far as learning how to play the game and the style of game that I played. I learned to play behind the net, and when I started doing that, it was so unique. Nobody had ever tried to defend that. And so I was able to really master it and become really good at it, and that was sort of my forte." Hockey sense, Gretzky said, was also a strength. Singing, not so much. OBrien mentioned that the first time he met Gretzky came in 1989 on the set of "Saturday Night Live." Although Gretzky originally turned down the appearance, his wife, Janet, accepted for him. On the show, Gretzky had to sing a song called "Waikiki Hockey," despite being, in his words, "tone deaf." "The funny part of the scene was they had this little piece of meat and I was sort of supposed to hit it," Gretzky said. "And I hit it right into a garbage can. I think everybody was shocked that I put it in the garbage can. It was just completely by accident." OBrien, who served as an extra in that scene 25 years ago, joked that "Everyone thought, He is the great one, he can fire meat at will." But that was acting, which Gretzky wasnt trying to be great at after going to Los Angeles. "Athletes come here and they want to be actors sometimes," Gretzky said. "But I never wanted to act, I wanted to be a hockey player." Follow (at)SWhyno on Twitter. Its a real big dream for me. hockeys come a long way. ' ' '
