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Avs rally to down Stars 3-1 Saturday, March 08, 2008 For the third straight game the Dallas Stars could muster only goal and the Colorado Avalanche made them pay for it in the third period. The Avalanche scored twice in a 2:42 span to erase a 1-0 Dallas lead and then went on to a 3-1 victory, handing the Stars their third straight loss. "It was a tight game through two periods," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "When they put extra pressure on and grabbed momentum with their first goal, we couldn’t get it back." Antti Miettinen's first period power play goal was the lone score for the Stars, who were unable to build on their one point lead over San Jose in the Pacific Division. Marty Turco, who stopped 25 of 27 shots in the game, came up with several top notch saves through the first two periods to help preserve the Stars' 1-0 lead. "We just were too tentative to play the game," Turco said. "You can't be like that. You know that the Avs are going to pour it on." The Avalanche, who got one goal and one assist from both Andrew Brunette and Paul Stastny and two assists from Peter Forsberg, won their sixth straight game and are now tied with Calgary and Minnesota atop the Northwest Division with 80 points. "It was a huge win for us," Forsberg said. "We've just got to keep it going and keep the winning streak going. You can see it, too. We're playing with confidence and it's great to be out there." The Stars held a 1-0 lead going into the third, but Colorado's special teams helped turn the game around. Just after the Avalanche killed off a Dallas power play, Forsberg carried the puck into the Dallas zone to help set a goal by Scott Hannan, who scored off the rebound of a Brunette shot at 7:30. "It was a huge goal," said Forsberg, who picked up his first point since his return on the play. "We got that one and we felt like we could win this game." Colorado took the lead at the 10:12 mark with a power play when Forsberg sent the puck from the left circle to the front of the net, where Brunette tipped it past Turco to give the Avalanche the lead for good. The Stars' best chance when a Brenden Morrow redirection of a Loui Eriksson pass went by Colorado goalie Jose Theodore, but hit the crossbar. Paul Stastny's empty net goal with three seconds left rounded out the scoring. The game got off to a fast paced start and the first whistle didn't come until 8:26 in when Colorado's Cody McCormick was whistled for hooking Stars center Mike Modano. Thirty seconds later the Stars cashed in when Miettinen knocked home the rebound of a Stephane Robidas shot to make it a 1-0 game. The Stars came close to extending the lead, but Theodore, who stopped 25 of 26 shots in the game, made a great save on a point blank chance by Eriksson and Brad Richards had a shot bang off the post. Turco came up huge late in the period, getting his blocker on a shot from the slot by Colorado defenseman Jeff Finger and then making a couple of great stops with Colorado on a power play, including a gem on a great chance by Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles. The Stars took another hit on the blue line when rookie defenseman Matt Niskanen left the game in the third period. He got hit hard late in the second period, returned for the beginning of the third and then left the left the game. Tippett said Niskanen would be re-evaluated on Sunday. "He is fighting through some bumps and bruises to get up to speed," Tippett said. The Stars lost defenseman Philippe Boucher to a shoulder injury in the last game and both he and Sergei Zubov (foot/groin) are expected to be out until late March. Morrow left the game briefly in the third when he was hit by Colorado defenseman Jeff Finger and his head hit the stanchion near the benches. Finger was penalized for interference. Morrow, who returned to the game, said the biggest issue was with his neck. "I've had problems with that in the past," Morrow said. "I felt numbness in my legs, and I wanted to make sure that wasn't an issue." Mike Modano was hurting a bit as well after he was dumped by Avs defenseman Ruslan Salei, but Modano continued to play.
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