Over the hump
Turco gets first win over Detroit as Stars down Red Wings in shootout

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Throwing his stick during the shootout delayed it, but didn't prevent Marty Turco from finally beating the Detroit Red Wings. Turco made 27 saves and then was credited with two saves on four shots in the shootout as the Dallas Stars won their fourth straight game with a 2-1 shootout win over the Red Wings at the American Airlines Center Saturday afternoon.

Mike Modano scored the game-winner in the shootout for the Stars, who got a regulation goal from Jere Lehtinen and shootout goals from Sergei Zubov and Jussi Jokinen, who is now 8-8 in shootouts this season.  

The win was the third straight in which the Stars rallied to tie the game and then won it in a shootout. The Stars improved to a league-best 8-0 in shootouts.

"It was an exciting afternoon," Stars captain Mike Modano told the Associated Press. "NBC probably couldn't have asked for a better game."

Turco is now 6-0 in shootouts and 1-5-5 lifetime against the Red Wings, who lost for the third time in the four games and failed to score an even-strength goal for the fourth straight game.

The win pulled the Stars to within one point of the Red Wings for first overall in the Western Conference.

"We keep getting closer to those guys," Turco told the Associated Press.

The Red Wings fell to 1-1 in the shootout, something Detroit coach Mike Babcock evidently doesn't like.

"I think the fans love it, but it's got nothing to do with the game," Babcock told the AP.

The Stars appeared to have won the game after Turco stopped Henrik Zetterberg in the shootout with the Stars leading it 2-1. Turco had lost his stick on the play. But the referees went to the review, apparently consulted with league officials and determined that Turco threw his stick. Zetterberg was credited with a goal to make it 2-2 in the shootout.

After Antti Miettinen's shot was denied by Detroit goalie Manny Legace and Turco knocked Lang's shot over the net with his glove, Modano roofed a shot over Legace to give the Stars the win. 

The game got off to a choppy start with a total of five penalties called in the first 5:37 of the game. Both teams got five-on-three power play chances. The Stars had about 18 seconds with the two-man advantage, but Detroit had close to 1:30.

But the Stars penalty killers were sharp and Turco came up with nice stops on both Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk to keep Detroit from cashing in on the chance.

The Red Wings held the advantage in shots 10-5. Both Jason Arnott and Bill Guerin had good chances early in the period but were denied by Wings goalie Manny Legace. 

Each teams got six shots in a scoreless second period. Both teams had a couple of good chances, but the best one went to Detroit.

Just after coming out of the penalty box, Detroit's Johan Franzen got a breakaway, but Turco got a piece of his backhand shot to keep it out of the net.

Detroit's Mikael Samuelsson came close to getting a point blank chance on Turco, but Stars defenseman Jon Klemm made a great play to tie him up.

The Stars came close when a Philippe Boucher shot deflected off a Detroit stick and then hit the crossbar.

After the Stars killed what was left of Red Wings power play early in the third, Detroit got another power play after Turco slashed Tomas Holmstrom.

Holmstrom and the Wings cashed it. After Jason Woolley put a shot on net, Holmstrom slipped the rebound past Turco's outstretched pad at 2:53 of the third.

The Stars picked up the pace after that, but couldn't get the equalizer. The best save may have belonged to Zetterberg, who stopped a point blank chance by Boucher.

But the Stars finally got the equalizer with less than five minutes to go in the third. After a scramble in the neutral zone, Modano came up the puck and got it to Jokinen, who backhanded a pass to Lehtinen and the Stars forward beat Legace with a quick wrist shot from the slot.

The Stars had a power play late in the third period, but were unable to cash in to win it in regulation.

The Red Wings outshot the Stars 7-1 in thanks in part to a full two-minute power play, but again Turco and the Stars penalty killers came up big. That set the stage for the shootout.

Before the stick incident with Turco and Zetterberg, it appeared Jokinen's shootout goal would hold up as the winner. Jokinen used the same move he displayed two Saturday's ago in Boston. While sliding one way, he reached back with one hand and backhanded the puck against the grain past Legace.

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