Stars Outshine Kings 1-0

Los Angeles came close to breaking its drought against the Dallas Stars, but the Kings fell short again.

Joe Nieuwendyk scored in the game's first minute, and Ed Belfour made 18 saves as the Stars remained unbeaten in their past 16 games against the Kings with a 1-0 victory on Sunday.

Dallas has won all four meetings against Los Angeles this season by one goal.

"It's not like any of them have been easy," Nieuwendyk said. "We just seem to match up well against them and do a good job of limiting their speed."

The Stars haven't lost to the Kings since April 6, 1995, a 3-2 defeat at Los Angeles. Dallas is 10-0-6 against Los Angeles over the 16-game span.

Belfour had to come up with several difficult stops in the final 10 minutes for his 44th career shutout and fourth of the season.

Dallas is 7-1-1 in its past nine games, but four of those victories have come by one goal.

"We always seem to make it interesting at the end in our own building," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We can't seem to put teams away."

The Kings were unable to capitalize on a two-man power play over the game's final 37.7 seconds. Los Angeles had six skaters to Dallas' three because the Kings had pulled goalie Stephane Fiset with 1:14 to play.

"Toward the end they really kept up the pressure, but our guys were able to block a few shots," Belfour said. "Getting the shutout is nice, but the win is the main thing."

© 1999 SportsLine USA, Inc. All rights reserved