by John Tranchina
There will be no clinching the Pacific division on the Stars ice this season.

The Dallas Stars certainly have a flair for the dramatic this season, give them that. Brenden Morrow scored with 6.1 seconds remaining in the third period to tie it and Ladislav Nagy netted the game-winner in the shootout as the Stars came from behind to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 Friday night at the American Airlines Center.

It was the third time this season Dallas pulled out a win by evening the score in the final 30 seconds of the third period before ultimately triumphing in the shootout. The Stars have also made dramatic comebacks in the last several weeks by rallying from three goals down in the third on two different occasions, against Phoenix and Detroit.

"We're finding ways to get the points," said Morrow, the team captain. "I'd say the last month or so, the third-period comebacks, down two or three goals against a team like Detroit, to come back and win that game, it's going to pay off for us hopefully in the long run. We're never out of it, we can't sit back, we got to keep playing and those will build a lot of character for our team."

Because the Ducks gained a point in the contest, however, the Stars can no longer catch them for the Pacific Division lead, and with one game remaining in the regular season, are now locked into finishing in the fifth or sixth slot in the Western Conference.

Dallas, which snapped a two-game losing streak, finished the season series with a 4-3-1 record against the Ducks (including 3-0-1 in the last four), and a 24-7-1 mark against Pacific Division foes. The Stars are now 11-2-2 in their last 15 games and 14-3-2 in their last 19 at home.

Nagy scored the only goal in the shootout, connecting in the fourth round on a quick point-blank wrist shot that deflected in off the glove of Anaheim goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov and just under the crossbar.

"I tried to go high-glove and it went in," said Nagy, who also set up Morrow's game-tying goal. "I was very happy that we won the game and how we came back at the end. We had been struggling, so to get the win was big for us."

Stars goaltender Marty Turco, who made 21 saves to register his 37th victory of the season, then made a sprawling pad save on Corey Perry to secure the win.

"That was much more of a revved up game that meant something," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "Sometimes you face a team that engages you and we did some real good things tonight. We wanted to build some momentum and I thought our work ethic was excellent. It's funny the way the (tying) goal went in, but we deserved it and worked for it. We played a better game tonight and we did enough good things that we can build on this."

Things looked bleak late in the third when the Stars iced the puck with 29 seconds remaining in regulation and then lost the face-off deep in their own zone. But Dallas regained possession and raced up ice for one last thrust. Turco was pulled for an extra attacker again, as Dallas entered the Anaheim zone with about 10 seconds left. The puck ended up on Nagy's stick in the right corner, and he just whipped a sharp-angle puck into the crease, where the puck re-directed in off Morrow's leg and ricocheted past Bryzgalov. The play was briefly reviewed by the officials, but the goal was allowed to stand.

"It's no secret how I score my goals," Morrow said. "I just get in front and I think everyone was crowding around the crease, and Nags got it in the dirty area and it went off my shin pad and in. There wasn't really much doubt in my mind (it was a goal). I would have been very surprised had they called that back."

"That's just the typical hockey that you need right there, right at the crease, battling it out, and one of our heart-and-soul guys getting his nose dirty, paying the price to score the goal," Turco said of Morrow's effort to tie it. "It was huge for us and was certainly a lot of fun in the building to hear the crowd. They deserved it, they were with us all night."

Trailing 1-0 entering the third, the Stars were forced to kill off two early penalties against the Ducks' third-ranked power play. Just as the second one expired, Turco made a nice save on Sean O'Donnell's slap shot from the left face-off circle, and then defenseman Mattias Norstrom made a great diving poke-check to clear the loose rebound out of the crease.

Stephane Robidas almost evened the score with a long booming slap shot midway through the period, but Bryzgalov made the save.

Bryzgalov also made a nice stop on Niklas Hagman's sharp-angle wrist shot with 4:50 remaining.

Then Turco kept the Stars in the game with just 1:55 left in regulation when Teemu Selanne couldn't outrace Sergei Zubov for a breakaway. Selanne pulled up and ripped a wrist shot from the left circle, but Turco turned it aside.

With just under a minute to go and Turco on the bench for an extra attacker, Mike Modano then missed a golden opportunity to tie it when he blasted a one-timer from the slot that Bryzgalov managed to deflect into the corner with his blocker.

The Stars then mis-fired on a pass and was called for icing, setting up the dramatic final rush in regulation.

"It was a great game, a fun one to play in," forward Stu Barnes said. "Two solid teams, we were trying to show our real game after two disappointing outings. You have to keep fighting and now one more before we start the playoffs."

In overtime, Anaheim outshot Dallas 4-2, but the Stars had the best individual opportunity to win it before the shootout.

With three minutes left in OT, Turco denied Francois Beauchemin's snap shot from the left circle, and after the Stars raced back up ice on the counter-attack, Robidas' backhander was gloved by Bryzgalov.

Then 15 seconds later, Jussi Jokinen had a prime scoring chance, but his one-timer from the slot was stopped by Bryzgalov, and the stage was set for the shootout.

With the clubs scoreless entering the second, Dallas continued pressing and controlled the majority of the play. The Stars held a 15-4 advantage in shots through the first 18 minutes of the period, thanks in part to a 5-on-3 power play for 1:18 late in the frame.

Bryzgalov made several big saves during the two-man advantage as the Stars hemmed the Ducks in their zone for the entire time. Despite slap shots from Zubov and Robidas, a point-blank wrist shot from the slot by Morrow and several rebound chances followed by at least two mad scrambles in front of a prone Bryzgalov, the Stars were unable to break through.

"I think we got lots of chances on that 5-on-3," Morrow said. "I think we got out of there with some momentum. We didn't score, but we had a lot of opportunities."

Less than a minute after the penalties expired, the Ducks regrouped and on an innocent-looking rush in the Dallas zone, Selanne connected for his 46th goal of the season to give Anaheim the lead with just 1:19 left in the period. Carrying the puck down the left side over the blue line, Selanne cut into the middle and whipped a quick wrist shot that beat Turco, who appeared to be screened on the play, to the short side.

The game featured some physical play as winger Steve Ott buried Anaheim's Brad May on two separate occasions in the first period, and in the second, Chris Kunitz crunched Modano with a big hit. Then, with just 6.9 seconds remaining in the middle period, Selanne practically bowled over Turco in the crease while on the rush, but was unpenalized.

In the first period, the Stars enjoyed the territorial advantage most of the time, outshooting the Ducks 6-2 until about four minutes left, when Anaheim eventually evened the count at six each. Turco did make nice stops on Dustin Penner's point-blank shot from the slot three minutes in, and then on Andy McDonald's in-close deflection in the final minute.

Dallas' best chance in the first came when Ribeiro found himself alone in front of the net and swept a backhand that Bryzgalov smothered about nine minutes in.

The Stars close out the regular season Sunday afternoon with a nationally-televised matinee matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks (12 noon, NBC).

"We wanted a game where we were going to build some momentum (heading into the playoffs)," Tippett said. "We were finally able to get it late in the game. We played a better game tonight. Had we not won, we still did some things we can build on."

STARGAZING

# With one game remaining, the Stars are in sixth in the West with 105 points, one behind San Jose in fifth. The Sharks play Vancouver Saturday, and if they gain even one point, Dallas cannot catch them and will finish sixth. But if they lose and the Stars beat Chicago, then Dallas will finish fifth and play fourth-seeded Nashville in the first round of the playoffs.

# Morrow's 15th goal of the season gives him eight points (four goals, four assists) in his last seven contests.

# Nagy's assist on Morrow's goal was his ninth point (one goal, eight assists) in his last 10 games after he posted just four points (three goals, one assist) in his first 14 games in a Stars uniform.

# In an effort to get more players fully integrated into their system, rookie Niklas Grossman, who was recalled from AHL Iowa on Wednesday, suited up for his second straight game on defense while veterans Jon Klemm and Nolan Baumgartner were healthy scratches.

# Ott delivered eight hits in the contest, far more than anyone on either team.

# By killing off all three Duck power plays, the Stars now have a streak of killing off 22 consecutive opponent power plays, dating back seven games to March 24.

# After going 0-for-5 on the power play, the Dallas man-advantage unit is now 1-for-16 in the last four contests, after scoring in eight straight, going 12-for-51 in that span.

# With the victory, the Stars finished with a 13-3-1 record in the second game of back-to-back contests while fashioning just a 5-9-3 mark in the first half of those sets.

# Even with defenseman Darryl Sydor returning to the lineup after missing five games with a hand injury, the Stars continue to be hindered by injuries, as five regulars sat out with various ailments, including Jere Lehtinen (lower body strain), Trevor Daley (upper body strain), Krys Barch (upper body injury), Eric Lindros (groin) and Matthew Barnaby (concussion).

# Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, whose wife Kristen just gave birth to son Maxime Olivier, remained in California due to the newborn's non-life-threatening' medical condition. The Stars hope that everything turns out okay for the Giguere family and that Maxime goes home in good health.

# With the win, the Stars are now 10-20-1 in games in which they trailed entering the third period.

Damn Straight. "Quack Quack Ducks Sucks"

that was a good game..bryzgallov (wrong spelling I think) played an awesome game but that shootout goal he let in to nagy was kinda weak...but stil lits the stars, haha they are crazy in shootouts i have to admit