Power play goals lift Stars past Red Wings

1/30/2009
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dallas' Mike Ribeiro, left, and Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski battle for the puck. The Stars topped the Red Wings 4-2. Detroit was without Henrik Zetterberg who has a back injury.
Dallas' Mike Ribeiro, left, and Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski battle for the puck. The Stars topped the Red Wings 4-2. Detroit was without Henrik Zetterberg who has a back injury.

DETROIT - Marty Turco's drought in the regular season at Joe Louis Arena is over.

Turco made 22 saves, helping the Dallas Stars hold off the Detroit Red Wings for a 4-2 win last night.

He was 0-8-2 at the storied venue in the regular season as a pro.

"I've had zero wins here this century," joked the 33-year-old Turco, who had success at Joe Louis when he played at Michigan. "I don't want to date myself at all, but it has been a long time.

"But the way our team is playing [is more important than] anything that I did or accomplished."

Steve Ott, Jere Lehtinen, Chris Conner and Loui Eriksson put Dallas ahead 4-0 early in the second period.

Marian Hossa and Andreas Lilja scored for the Red Wings during a second period in which they almost scored two more goals, but video review and incidental contact prevented them from tying the game.

The Stars have won a season-high three straight and are 5-1-1 in their last seven games, continuing a surge up from the bottom of the Western Conference. Since Nov. 30, they are 15-7-3.

In Turco's last 21 games, he is 13-5-3 after winning just eight of his first 23.

"He's just like the rest of our team," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "We started slow but he's been coming on.

"I think the biggest difference was that we played better in front of him."

Detroit, meanwhile, is 0-3-1 during its first four-game winless streak of the season following an 8-0-1 stretch that padded its lead in the Central Division.

"We're slipping defensively," six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom said. "In our zone, we're not quick to pucks and we're not getting them out of our zone."

The Red Wings had won seven straight at home before a road trip that started with an overtime loss Jan. 12 at Dallas.

Detroit agreed with the video review that didn't go its way, but didn't think Tomas Holmstrom did enough to Turco to negate a goal.

"Obviously, we saw it a different way," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.

Chris Osgood gave up two goals on the first five shots he faced and was benched after giving up three goals on 12 shots in the first period. Ty Conklin replaced him and finished with 10 saves.

"More than anything, you're trying to just get a spark," Babcock said.

The Red Wings were without Henrik Zetterberg because of a back injury, a day after he signed a 12-year, $73-million contract. He hopes to play tomorrow at Washington.

Zetterberg's presence was missing at both ends of the ice as Detroit fell behind 4-0 for the first time this season after a couple of trends were reversed.

Dallas entered the game 30th on the power play on the road and Detroit had the NHL's best success rate at home on penalty killing.

"We won the special teams battle," Stars center Brad Richards said.

Indeed.

On the game's first two penalties, the Stars went ahead 2-0 on goals 1:17 apart.

Ott deflected Richards' shot past Osgood for the first, and Richards set up Lehtinen on the second.

"Our penalty kill has been outstanding all year at home," Babcock said. "It wasn't outstanding tonight and it cost us."

Conner beat Osgood on the short side late in the first period, leading to the goaltender getting pulled.

Conklin gave up a power-play goal to Eriksson on the second shot he faced, then didn't allow another as the Stars held on to their big lead with a conservative style.

"You can't give a good team like that such a head start," Babcock said.

Dallas won the season series 3-1, dominating the team it lost to last year in the Western Conference finals.

"To take six out of eight points," Turco said, "against this team that's right there at the top of our conference, a measuring stick for all teams around the league, it's a good sign."

DEVILS 4, BRUINS 3

BOSTON - Jamie Langenbrunner scored his second goal of the game with 1:11 gone in overtime and the New Jersey Devils, who allowed three straight third-period goals to blow a two-goal lead, beat the Boston Bruins

Scott Clemmensen stopped 24 shots for New Jersey, which won its seventh consecutive game.

Tim Thomas made 26 saves for the Bruins, who lost for the fifth time in 21 games.

Langenbrunner and Zach Parise scored to give the Devils a 2-0 lead after two, but Boston took its first lead on Dennis Wideman's slap shot with 6:30 left. New Jersey tied it on Patrik Elias' goal with 1:45 to play in regulation.

Panthers 5, Canadiens 1

SUNRISE, Fla. - Jay Bouwmeester and Stephen Weiss scored power-play goals in the first period for Florida.

Richard Zednik, Radek Dvorak and Michael Frolik also scored for the Panthers, 7-1-3 in their last 11 games. Weiss added two assists, and Cory Stillman helped set up three goals.

Hurricanes 3, Lightning 2

RALEIGH - Eric Staal scored with 1:36 remaining to lift Carolina past Tampa Bay.

Matt Cullen had a goal and an assist, Chad LaRose also scored and Cam Ward earned his 100th NHL victory for the Hurricanes. Carolina, which had lost six of eight, played just its second home game since Jan. 6 and improved to 4-0 against the Lightning.

Islanders 5, Thrashers 4

ATLANTA - Kyle Okposo had his first two-goal game in the NHL, and goalie Yann Danis survived a shaky third period in the New York Islanders' victory over Atlanta.

In a matchup featuring two of the league's three worst teams, the Islanders snapped a 14-game losing streak on the road (0-13-1) with their first consecutive victories since late November.

SENATORS 3, BLUES 1

ST. LOUIS - Peter Regin scored his first goal in the NHL with 1:57 left and lifted the Ottawa Senators to a victory over the St. Louis Blues.