The Stars had stumbled a bit while closing out the 2011 calendar year, losing three of their last four, but they ended it in fine fashion, manhandling the defending champion Bruins 4-2. Trevor Daley scored a first period goal and assisted on two others to win first star honors.
After Loui Eriksson's power play opener, Tyler Seguin scored his 15th of the season to tie it. Daley's goal and another from Michael Ryder with the man advantage gave Dallas the 3-1 lead after a period. Ton Wandell notched just his second of the season in the second period to extend to 4-1.
Boston came out fast as expected in the third, narrowing the score to 4-2 on a Milan Lucic tally, and ramping up their physical game. The Bruins were limited to just 20 shots on the game, in an unusually light load for Kari Lehtonen, who won his first since returning from injury.
The win moves the Stars atop the Pacific and into the West's top eight with 43 points, pending the Kings' late game with Vancouver.