Modano shoots down Hurricanes

Friday, December 2, 2005

Some people have compared Carolina's Eric Staal to Dallas Star's captain Mike Modano. Friday night Staal got a first hand look at how Modano plays when he is at the top of his game.  The Stars captain scored two goals in regulation and then scored the winning goal in the shootout as the Stars topped the  Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 at the American Airlines Center.

Niko Kapanen and Brenden Morrow also scored for the Stars, who won their third straight game and were victorious for the eighth time in their last ten contests.

Johan Hedberg made 16 saves in regulation and then stopped two of three in the shootout to earn his third win of the season.

The Stars improved to 3-0 in shootouts this season, while Carolina dropped to 2-1.

The shootout came after the Stars squandered a 4-2 lead in the third period and then were forced to kill of a couple of power plays in overtime.

After both Carolina's Radim Vrbata and Dallas' Sergei Zubov missed in the shootout, Carolina's Matt Cullen lifted over a shot over Hedberg, who had gone down to make a save, to put Carolina up 1-0 in the shootout.

Jussi Jokinen was up next for the Stars and he beat Carolina goalie Martin Gerber to the blocker side with a wrist shot to tie it 1-1.

Cory Stillman was next for the Hurricanes, but he failed when trying to beat Hedberg five-hole with a backhand shot.

Modano was the Stars' third shooter on the this night. He put a fake on Gerber and tried to slide the puck into the net. Gerber got a on a pad on it and made the initial save, but the knob on the end Gerber's stick tapped the puck over the goal line and Dallas got the win.

The Stars struck just 46 seconds into the game to take an early lead. After Antti Miettinen put a shot on net from the left wing, Modano took several at the rebound before finally putting it past Gerber.

After Carolina failed on its first power play attempt, the Hurricanes did get the equalizer with an even strength goal at 7:41 when Niklas Nordgren deflected a Frantisek Kaberle point shot past Hedberg.

The Stars struck with another goal off a rebound to regain the lead less than two minutes later. After Stephane Robidas put a shot on net from the point, the puck bounced off traffic and Kapanen knocked it into the open side of the net at 9:12.

The Stars extended their power play streak to 16 games when Modano netted his second goal of the game. Again, it came off a rebound. After Philippe Boucher fired a shot from the point, Jussi Jokinen put the rebound on net and the Modano got the next rebound and put into the net at 14:47.

The Hurricanes pulled to within a goal at 5:24 of the second period with a power play goal. After taking a pass from Justin Williams, Hurricanes forward Andrew Ladd's centering pass from behind the goal line bounced off Boucher and past Hedberg.

Carolina got a chance to tie with a couple of good chances on a subsequent power play, but Hedberg came up with a couple of nice stops to keep it a 3-2 game.

The Stars extended their lead to two goals again at 12:57 of the second. Jaroslav Svoboda, an ex-Hurricane, made a nice play along the boards to spring Jason Arnott and Morrow on a two-on-one opportunity and Morrow finished it off after taking a pass from Arnott.

Carolina pulled to within a goal at 7:40 of the third period when Stillman launched a backhand shot on net from the left faceoff circle that went through Stars defenseman Trevor Daley's legs and past Gerber.

The Hurricanes tied it a little more than seven minutes later with a power play goal. As time was running out on the power play Andrew Hutchison put a wrist shot on net from the point and Williams deflected it past Hedberg at 14:49.

The Hurricanes got a full two minute power play and another one for the final 45 seconds of the overtime, but couldn't cash in on either one. That set the stage for the shootout.

Notes: Stars defenseman Philippe Boucher left the game about midway through the third period with a an upper body injury. He did return for one shift in overtime. His status is not known. 

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