Teravainen scores 3 in 3rd as Hurricanes beat Stars

RALEIGH, N.C. » Sebastian Aho made an early splash Monday night before fellow Finn Teuvo Teravainen stole the show.

Teravainen had a natural hat trick in the third period, his first three-goal game in the NHL, to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-1 victory over the Dallas Stars.

Aho added his first goal of the season and two assists, and Jordan Staal’s career-best four assists gave him 201 with the Hurricanes. Jeff Skinner scored the other Carolina goal the closing seconds.

Scott Darling stopped 25 shots for the victory.

“I liked the fact we scored on the power play,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. “That gave us momentum. It gave us life. It was good for (Aho) to get one. The guys were in happy for him. I don’t know who was happier for him, collectively the team on the bench or himself.”

Alexander Radulov scored for Dallas, which won the previous meeting at home 4-3 on Oct. 20. The Stars came out on top in their previous three trips to Raleigh.

“It’s disappointing,” Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We had the game right there and we cracked. We were in a great position on the road, exactly where we wanted to be, and we were the ones who made the mistakes.”

Aho’s first goal came in his 14th game of the season, two earlier than last season when he finished with 24 goals.

Carolina took the lead on a rush at 8:07 of the first period as Aho beat Ben Bishop through the legs after Staal’s pinpoint centering pass from the left wing.