DALLAS — The Preposterous Dream just keeps picking up steam.
A tight-checking game turned on a single break, and rookie Nick Palmieri capitalized for the streaking Devils.
Palmieri scored on a deflection with 5:37 left and Johan Hedberg stopped 19 shots for his 17th NHL shutout as the Devils extended their season-high winning streak to eight with a 1-0 victory over the slumping Stars last night.
The Devils are 16-1-2 in their last 19 to move closer to playoff contention in the Eastern Conference. They are nine points behind the eighth-place Hurricanes with a game in hand.
“It’s the whole group that plays hard and bears down on the little things that makes this team better,” Devils coach Jacques Lemaire said. “They have intensity. Everyone is on the same page, it’s a lot easier.”
With newly acquired Dallas defenseman Alex Goligoski in the penalty box for high-sticking, Ilya Kovalchuk broke his stick on a shot from the left point. But Palmieri was set up to the right of the net and he deflected the puck past Kari Lehtonen for his sixth goal.
“I was in front of the net trying to set a screen,” Palmieri said. “Usually that shot coming from the point is a little harder than that, but a broken stick might have thrown their goalie off a little bit and I just happened to get a little tip on it.
“There’s a strong belief in this locker room we can compete with any team in the league and we’ve been doing that.”
It was Hedberg’s second 1-0 victory in three games. He also topped the Rangers on Friday night filling in for Martin Brodeur as the No. 1 goalie recovers from a knee injury.
Lemaire gave Hedberg his seventh straight start, though Brodeur is ready to play after missing more than two weeks because of a sprained knee ligament. Hedberg has allowed two goals or fewer in each of his last seven starts.