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Anaheim 0 0 0 0
Dallas 0 0 1 1
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DAL: JOKINEN, J. (PPG, 04:13 in 3rd)

Dallas Stars rookie goaltender Mike Smith doesn't quite remember the last goal scored against him, although that is probably more due to the fact that it came after he was hit in the face mask with a shot and suffered a concussion that caused him to miss six games.

A clear-headed Smith made his first start in over a month and stopped 32 saves to shut out the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks, leading the Stars to a 1-0 victory Saturday afternoon at the American Airlines Center.



What was the Stars play of the game?

Mike Smith's save on Pahlsson in the first

Jussi Jokinen's goal in the third period

Smith's save on McDonald in the third



It was Smith's third whitewash of the season, coming in his first start since that Jan. 4 game in Edmonton that he left after two periods due to injury. Since relieving Marty Turco in the first period of Tuesday's 4-2 win over Minnesota, Smith has stopped 47 consecutive shots in the Dallas net.

The win gives the Stars a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 and pulls them to within six points of Anaheim for the division lead, and to within three points of San Jose for second in the division and fifth in the Western Conference. It was an important turnaround for the Stars, who had lost their three previous contests with the Ducks by a combined score of 13-3.

"They're important games, against teams that are above you in the standings, you have to beat them in order to catch them," Smith said. "We knew it was a big game before the game and it's a big two points. It's a good team over there. We battled through the whole 60-minute hockey game."

Jussi Jokinen scored the Stars' only goal, on a power play in the third period, which was just his second goal in his last 20 games.

Dallas also killed off all six man-advantage opportunities by the Ducks, who entered the game with the NHL's third-ranked PP unit, including three in the third period. Dallas has now killed off 23 of their last 24 short-handed situations over their last five games.

But the story of the game was Smith, who signed a two-year contract extension on Wednesday, who made several excellent saves, to extend his shutout streak to 119:07. He also tied his career-high with 32 saves in a game.

"We were hoping for a win and Smitty hung in there and got a win," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. I thought about it yesterday and just wanted to switch it up. It was a game with not much space out there and a lot of turnovers, but we battled hard and hung in there."

"He had a strong effort last game and Ii think he earned his start today, and I think he played great," Stars forward Stu Barnes said of Smith. "He was rock solid back there, and he made some unbelievable saves and was steady back there and that was great to see."

The Stars' power play got them on the board at 4:13 of the third period on Jokinen's 11th goal of the season. Just 35 seconds into the man-advantage opportunity, Jokinen received a long pass from Sergei Zubov at the blue line, eluded Anaheim defenseman Chris Pronger, and raced in alone on Ducks' goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Jokinen's quick wrist shot beat Giguere low to the stick side to give the Stars the lead.

"I tried keeping it similar to the shootout," said Jokinen, who is 5-for-8 this year in shootouts. "Zubie is one of the best passers in the league and he sprung me with a great pass. Smitty was great, the power play created some great chances and these are two big points."

With Dallas on another power play immediately afterwards, Smith had to make a nice stop on Todd Marchant's short-handed effort. About a minute after the Stars' goal, Marchant raced into the Dallas zone and Smith saved his backhander from the right face-off circle. The rebound ricocheted out into the left circle, but Travis Moen's wrist shot sailed over an open net and out of play.

Smith then made consecutive rebound saves on Andy McDonald midway through the period, with the second one a brilliant flash of the pad to keep the Ducks off the scoreboard.

With the Stars enjoying a man-advantage opportunity, Giguere prevented them from adding an insurance goal with about 5:40 to go, when he stopped successive wrist shots from Eric Lindros and then Jokinen, from the slot.

The Ducks made a late push even though Dallas had another power play, and Smith denied attempts by Marchant and Francois Beauchemin until Lindros was called for a tripping penalty with 1:33 left. With Giguere pulled, the Ducks could not get one past Smith, with their best chance in the final moments coming on Chris Kunitz's backhander from the right face-off circle with 15 seconds remaining.

The Ducks enjoyed a 16-6 edge in shots for the third period.

"He made the first save and he made the second save and he made the big save when we needed them," defenseman Philippe Boucher said of Smith. "I think we did a good job killing penalties. They had some good chances and he turned them away."

After a scoreless first period in which they were outshot 10-4, the Stars picked up their play early in the second, a stretch that included their first two power plays of the game. Although they had the period's first five shots through the first six and a half minutes, they were unable to solve Giguere. Their best chance in that stretch was Mike Modano's one-timer from the top of the crease, receiving a quick pass from Mike Ribeiro from behind the net, but Giguere made a nice pad stop to keep the game scoreless.

Anaheim's first shot of the period came with 13:14 left when Corey Perry, just out of the penalty box, raced in on Smith on a breakaway, but he tripped in the left face-off circle. While sliding in on his knees, he still managed a weak shot that Smith denied.

The best Dallas chance in the second came with under a minute left when Modano and Trevor Daley raced up ice on a 2-on-2 rush. Giguere made a nice glove save on Daley's in-close backhander to keep the game scoreless going into the third. The Stars did outshoot Anaheim 11-6 in the period.

Things got off to a physical start as Stars rookie Krys Barch and Anaheim's Shawn Thornton got into a fight just 35 seconds into the game, dropping the gloves immediately after the puck hit the ice for a face-off.

Smith got in the game early, making nice saves on Andy McDonald's in-close attempt, Dustin Penner's deflection and on Pronger's slap slot from the blue line in the first five minutes. His best stop came eight minutes into the first, making a spectacular stop on Samuel Pahlsson all alone in front. After Pahlsson received a nice cross-ice pass, Smith slid across, stacking the pads, and managed to get his glove on Pahlsson's shot, deflecting it up over the net.

Smith also had a nice glove snag on Thornton's wrist shot, and stopped Pahlsson again on a one-timer from the high slot with 30 seconds remaining.

The Stars get right back at it Sunday afternoon on a nationally-televised matchup on NBC (2:30pm) against the Colorado Avalanche. With the Avs currently in 10th in the West and battling just to stay in the playoff race, it should be a hard-fought contest.

"This homestand we are playing some top-notch opponents and we know we have to be good this entire month," Tippett said. "We talked after the game to the team and said that as good as this win feels, we need to be even better tomorrow because a hungry Colorado team is coming in. For tomorrow, we'll kick a few things around and see what we're going to do in net. That decision will be made tomorrow."

STARGAZING



Jokinen now has three points (one goal, two assists) in his last two games after going scoreless for four straight.

Winger Niklas Hagman also assisted on Jokinen's goal, giving him assists in consecutive games after a four-game pointless drought.

Anaheim leads the NHL in fighting majors, now with 54, a full 22 more than runner-up Nashville. The scrap 35 seconds into the game gave Barch an unbelievable 61 penalty minutes in just nine NHL contests.

This was the first time in 23 games that goaltender Marty Turco did not appear in a game for the Stars, the first time since Dec. 14.

Stars winger Antti Miettinen was a game-time scratch with a lower body injury. He is currently listed as day-to-day.

I saw the highlights to the game. Smith was really good especially against a very good Ducks team.