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Canucks down slumping Stars 4-3 Saturday, March 15, 2008 A shaky finish did the Dallas Stars Thursday night in a 5-3 loss to Detroit. Saturday night it was a slow start that hurt their cause in a 4-3 loss to Vancouver. The Stars fell behind 3-0 early at the American Airlines Center, rallied to tie the game but then ended up losing on an ugly bounce in front of the net. Markus Naslund's centering pass from the boards bounced off Brendan Morrison and into the net 3:04 into third period and snapped a 3-3 tie, giving the Canucks a much needed win and keeping the Stars in a slide in the month of March. "They get a bounce in the third and win the game,'' Stars center Stu Barnes said. "Bounces happen, but in this league you have to play from start to finish and have a complete game. We didn't do that.'' The loss was the fifth in the last six games for the Stars, who slipped to third place in the Pacific Division after Anaheim beat St. Louis Saturday night. The Stars trail the Ducks by one point and first place San Jose, which has three games in hand, by three points. "We can't give up four and expect to win hockey games. That's just the bottom line," said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "We can say we are this fancy, offensive team but if we give up four every night we are in trouble. "You can't make the kind of mistakes we are making. ... If we are too arrogant to figure out, shame on us." Vancouver, fighting for both the final playoff spot in the conference and first in the Northwest Division, snapped a two-game losing streak and moved to within two points of first place in the Northwest. "It was a big win for us," said coach Alain Vigneault. "In the third [period] we found a way to get it done and that's what matters." The Stars got goals who from Joel Lundqvist, Mike Modano and Brad Richards. Johan Holmqvist, acquired along with Richards from Tampa Bay at the February 26 trade deadline, saw his first action as a Dallas Star and he didn't last long. He allowed three goals on 12 shots and was pulled after the first period. But he didn't get much help from his teammates in front of him. "It was Holmer's first start for us and we wanted to have a good start for him and we kind of stunk it up," said Stars captain Brenden Morrow. "We were all disappointed that we didn't have a better showing for Holmer." Said Holmqvist: "No excuses. I'm disappointed. It was a big night for me and I let the team down.'' The Canucks scored three times in the first 11:13 of the game to take a 3-0 lead. Matt Pettinger opened the scoring, beating Holmqvist five-hole from the right circle just after the Stars coughed up the puck in the neutral zone. Vancouver extended it to 2-0 with a power play goal at the 9:07 mark when Ryan Kesler got a couple of whacks at a rebound and eventually got it over Holmqvist's pad. Goal number three game after Pettinger poked the puck away from Stars defenseman Mark Fistric, setting up a two-on-zero rush against Holmstrom, and Markus Naslund finished it off at the 11:13 mark. The Stars started to push late in the period and they finally scored off a Vancouver turnover. Loui Eriksson skated down the left wing, put a shot on net and Lundqvist scored off the rebound with 14 seconds remaining in the period to make it a 3-1 game heading into the second period. Marty Turco replaced Holmqvist to start the second period and the Stars were able to tie the game, scoring once on the power play and once shorthanded to make it a 3-3 game heading into the final 20 minutes. After Mike Ribeiro drew two penalties the Stars had a five-on-three advantage for 38 seconds, and seven seconds after the two-man advantage expired Modano beat Luongo with a wrist shot from the left point at the 7:35 mark. The Stars tied it at 13:58 of the second with the Canucks on their second power play of the game. Jere Lehtinen chipped a puck away from Canucks defenseman Alex Edler at the right point, springing Richards on a breakaway and the Stars center finished it off by slipping the puck between Luongo's legs. The Stars had a chance to take the lead with a 4:00 power play that started late in the second and carried over into the third period, but they couldn't cash in and a short time later the Canucks took the lead for good. Morrison's game-winner came when Naslund backhanded the puck towards the net and it went off Morrison, who was tied up with Stephane Robidas while charging the net. Luongo's best save in the third came with about five minutes to go when he got a glove on a Modano shot from close range. "[Modano] had a few chances and luckily I was able to get a piece of that last one," Luongo said. A short time later Turco kept it a one-goal game when he stopped Naslund on a penalty shot with 4:44 remaining in the game.
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