Wild's third period rally sinks Stars

Monday, December 19, 2005

Fans at the Xcel Energy Center cheered Dallas Stars Mike Modano and Bill Guerin and Minnesota's Brian Rolston as the three of them donned Team USA jerseys after being named to the USA Olympic Team in a pre-game ceremony Monday night. Then the fans cheered Rolston and the Wild at the end of the game after they rallied to score twice in the final period to beat the Dallas Stars 2-1.

Rolston played a key role in the rally, springing Marian Gaborik on a breakaway that resulted in the game-winner with 8:02 left in the game.

"It was a good skating game and a patient game on both sides,"  Modano told the Sports Network. "That's how they play and that's how they are coached. We were moving along pretty good and a couple loose plays and its 2-1 real quick."

The Stars, who got a goal from Jere Lehtinen, fell to 3-2-0 on their current six-game road trip and lost for just the second time in their last nine games. Marty Turco made 20 saves, including several great ones, but was denied his 19th win of the season. 

The Wild won its second straight game thanks in part to its top ranked penalty kill, which snuffed out all six Dallas power play chances. Ex-Stars goalie Manny Fernandez made 30 saves.  

"The guys know now this is the way we got a chance to win," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire told the Associated Press. "If we don't play together, we don't forecheck, we don't support each other there's no way we can beat teams like this. Killing penalties helps, too."

The Stars outshot the Wild 8-7 in a scoreless first period, but it was Turco who faced the toughest chances.

He came up with big stops on Todd White and Randy Robitaille while Minnesota was on the power play, and he made a great play to deny a Marc Chouinard shorthanded chance after a Dallas defensive zone turnover.

The Stars scored just 38 seconds into the second period as Lehtinen ran his goal scoring streak to six games and Modano ran his points streak to nine.

Modano made a drop pass from behind the goal line to Lehtinen, who beat Fernandez five-hole with a wrist shot from the slot.

After that there were more big stops from Turco, including great saves on Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis.

Turco continued to come up big early in the third, making a great stop on Wes Walz, but the Wild finally broke through on the Dallas netminder with two goals in a 3:44 span.

The first one came at 8:14 of the third. After Stephane Robidas missed a hit near the Dallas blue line, the Wild busted into the Stars zone with an odd-man rush and Robitaille set up White, whose wrist shot from the slot slid past Turco.

The Wild got the game-winner at 11:58 of the third when Rolston made a long pass that sent Gaborik on a breakaway and the Wild forward, with Trevor Daley in pursuit,  roofed a shot over Turco to make it a 2-1 game.

The Wild penalty kill shut down two more Dallas power play chances in the last 7:33 of the game to secure the win. 

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