FINAL SO 1 2 3 OT SO T
Minnesota 1 1 1 0 0 (1-2) 3
Dallas 1 1 1 0 1 (3-3) 4


MIN: NUMMELIN, P. (02:36 in 1st), ROLSTON, B. (19:05 in 2nd), KOIVU, M. (01:54 in 3rd)
DAL: BOUCHER, P. (03:24 in 1st), ERIKSSON, L. (PPG, 08:56 in 2nd), JOKINEN, J. (15:43 in 3rd)


Jussi Jokinen scored late in the third period to tie the game, and then added another in the shootout as the Dallas Stars scored on all three of their attempts to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 at the American Airlines Center Saturday night.

The Stars snapped a season-high three-game losing steak with the victory, and won their fourth straight home game. They also won their second shootout this season, triumphing 3-1 in the tie-breaker competition.

"I think it was important for us to come back home after three losses and get back to a winning streak," said center Mike Ribeiro, who scored the Stars' final and clinching goal in the shootout, and also added an assist. "Overall, it was a good team effort, and it was a much better effort than the last three games."



What was the Stars play of the game?

Philippe Boucher's first period goal

Loui Eriksson's second period goal

Jussi Jokinen's third period goal

Marty Turco's save on Koivu in the shootout

Mike Ribeiro's goal in the shootout



Sergei Zubov and Jokinen each scored on the Stars' first two attempts, as each utilized their standard moves that helped the Stars to an NHL-best 12-1 shootout record last year. After Minnesota's Brian Rolston ripped a slap shot past Stars goaltender Marty Turco, center Mike Ribeiro sealed the win with a nice forehand-backhand-forehand deke maneuver that allowed him to slip the puck around Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom.

"I have a few (moves) that I use, but this one is the one that usually works," Ribeiro said. "To go slower, I think that helped me."

In a game pitting two desperate teams that had each lost their previous three games, this was a game in the old NHL that each club probably would have been content with a tie. But with the NHL's new tie-breaking formula, the shootout determined a winner, and the Stars are happy with that.

"We feel pretty confident in the shootout," said Turco, who made 32 saves, including several spectacular ones, to allow the game to get that far. "For me, letting one of the two in and winning, not even seeing a third guy, it's pretty amazing. Just to get there is the most important part."

With Minnesota leading 3-2 and having controlled play for the majority of the third period, Jokinen scored his third goal in two games (after scoring just one in his previous 12) with 4:17 remaining to knot the game up again. Niklas Hagman stripped former Stars defenseman Martin Skoula of the puck in the right corner, and quickly slid a perfect pass into the slot to a charging Jokinen, whose wrist shot beat Backstrom to the far side.

"Great forechecking by Hags and it's just my instincts coming in when I get the puck so close," Jokinen said of the goal.

"He forced a lot of things during the game," Stars coach Dave Tippett said of Hagman. "I thought his penalty killing was excellent. We were looking for a spark plug and we got it."

Turco preserved the tie with just 1:37 to go in the third when he stacked the pads to stop Minnesota's Matt Foy on a breakaway. The Stars then had to kill off a hooking penalty to rookie Loui Eriksson in overtime, and Turco made a couple of big saves on Rolston and Pierre-Marc Bouchard to keep the Stars in the game.

"I think Marty made a few big saves at the end there, kept us in the game," Ribeiro said. "Even the PK in overtime was huge for us, gave us the chance to get to the shootout and win."

"I felt all right," said Turco, who personally had lost three straight and been pulled from a fourth since his last victory Nov. 17 in Atlanta. "Ever since that week off, I've been feeling a lot better fundamentally. There are still a few areas for me personally to clean up, but it feels good to come through for the guys. It's been a while since I won the last one, and hopefully, it'll be two days before the next."

Minnesota's Mikko Koivu snapped a 2-2 tie early in the third period on a wicked one-timer from the right face-off circle. With the Wild on a rush into the Stars' zone, Mark Parrish hit Koivu with a nice cross-ice feed that Koivu blasted over a sliding Turco.

The Stars dodged another bullet three and a half minutes later when Parrish, stationed on the right side of the goal crease, received a pass from the left corner and snapped a quick shot that Turco seemed to make a stellar save with his left pad. Moments later, TV replays clearly showed the puck actually crossing the line, just barely, before it rebounded off Turco's pad, but since play had already resumed, a goal could not be awarded.

"I was amazed that he got his foot over there," Parrish said. "The way instant replay is, and how many cameras there are, you assume that it's going to get taken care of, that the people above during a stoppage are going to get a second look at it."

"The puck was at least on the line," Turco said. "Part of it was probably over the line, but I really couldn't tell."

With the game tied 1-1 early in the second period, Dallas continued their recent trend of striking iron when winger Jere Lehtinen rang one off the corner of the post and crossbar four minutes in.

Minnesota responded with its own iron just 35 seconds later, when Wild center Wyatt Smith's rebound shot flipped up over Turco but ricocheted off the crossbar and bounced away from the net.

Eriksson finally snapped the tie midway through the period with the Stars on their second consecutive power play. Ribeiro set up behind the Wild net, and slid a crisp pass in front to Eriksson standing about two feet in front of the crease. Executing the classic bang-bang play, Eriksson quickly snapped the puck into the far side of the net past Backstrom for his second goal of the season at 8:56.

Turco was sharp in net for Dallas in the second, thwarting breakaways by Pascal Dupuis with about five minutes left, and then making a sprawling save on Rolston with about 2:30 to go in the second.

On his next shift, however, Rolston connected to tie the game at 2-2. With just 54.6 seconds remaining in the second, Rolston's slap shot off the rush from the high slot beat Turco between the pads for his 13th goal of the year.

Minnesota started strong, firing the game's first four shots on goal, and collecting the first goal. Petteri Nummelin's wrist shot from the blue line somehow made it through a maze of bodies in front and slipped past Turco, who probably never saw it, to give the Wild a 1-0 lead just 2:36 into the contest.

The fact that the Stars rebounded quickly was a good sign for the slumping club. Defenseman Philippe Boucher's seventh goal of the season tied the game just 48 seconds later when his booming slap shot from the blueline beat Backstrom between the legs as Eriksson provided a screen in front.

With 1:56 left in the first period and the Wild on a power play, Koivu dazzled the arena with a slick spin-a-rama move behind the Stars net that allowed him to circle out front with Turco leaning towards the other side of the net. His backhand wrap-around attempt went off Turco's stick and rattled around underneath him before Turco fell on it right near the goal line. The referee signaled no goal, but then the officials decided to review the play. Because TV replays were inconclusive in determining just where under Turco the puck was, there was no way to tell if it crossed the line, so the original call stood.

The Stars play their next three games, and five of their next six, at American Airlines Center, starting Monday night with Pacific Division rival San Jose (8 pm, my27).

"Coming back home with five games, we need to get the groove back and get back to winning and tonight is a great start," Ribeiro said. "We need to now get ready for our next game on Monday."

STARGAZING



Stars defenseman Darryl Sydor left the game late in the second period with what was originally announced as an upper body injury. "He tweaked his arm," Tippett said. "He had a little stinger there. We've got to go in tomorrow to see where we're at. We have a lot of bumps and bruises."

Defenseman Niklas Grossman, who was recalled from the Stars' top minor league affiliate in Iowa Thursday, made his NHL debut. In 14:09 of ice time, he registered one shot on goal, took two minor penalties and blocked two shots.

Dallas winger Vojtech Polak, who was summoned from Iowa on Friday, suited up for his first game this season. He played three games last year for the Stars. He had two shots while logging 7:12 of ice time.

After going 0-for-13 on the power play in their three road losses last week, Dallas capitalized on its fourth man-advantage opportunity of the game, with Skoula in the penalty box when Eriksson scored.

Former Stars backup goaltender Manny Fernandez, the number one in Minnesota, had a rare night off in favor of Backstrom.

One-time Stars prospect Shawn Belle played his second NHL game as an injury replacement for Minnesota. He earned his first point on Koivu's goal early in the third. Dallas traded him to Minnesota last March as part of the deal that brought defenseman Willie Mitchell to the Metroplex.