"He had a wonderful performance," said Star coach Dave Tippett. "I think everybody knows he has to be very good for our team to be very good, and he was excellent tonight."

And on this night Turco had to be at this best. There was little margin for error out there. The game was scoreless for most of the first period and that early momentum was up for grabs. Up until the midway point of the third period it was a one-goal game. Turco didn't blink. 

"Tonight it felt really good. I had an opportunity to see all the shots that came through my way," Turco said. "It's a good sign, to see everyone battle as hard as they did."

And battle they did. Plays like Jere Lehtinen reaching in with his stick to disrupt a prime scoring chance by Ducks forward Teemu Selanne and Trevor Daley hustling back to disrupt an odd-man rush.

Turco battled as well, stopping 28 of 29 shots on the night. He has now stopped 82 of 89 in the series, including 71 of 74 in the three Dallas victories.

"Marty's going to have to very, very good for our team to be successful. I think you saw how good he can be tonight," Tippett said. "Our group is going to have to continue to work well in front of him. When he's playing like that, I like what we do in front of him."

And the Stars were good in front of him, despite another key injury on the blue line. Already missing Sergei Zubov, the Stars were without Philippe Boucher, who is out with a lower body injury. As a result they had three defenseman who were playing in their first Stanley Cup Playoffs. Mark Fistric joined the fray Thursday night, joining fellow kids Matt Niskanen and Nicklas Grossman.

"They hung in there," Tippett said of the young defenseman. "A few shifts under siege, but they hung in there."

And Fistric's debut was nail biter. For almost 50 minutes, the Ducks and Stars were in a closely played game and only once did someone blink. That happened late in the first period when Ducks defenseman Sean O'Donnell made a made pass up the middle in his own zone that Stars forward Loui Eriksson knocked down, then backhanded the puck to Joel Lundqvist, who beat Ducks goalie J-S Giguere to give the Stars that all important lead.

For the next 34 minutes Turco and the Stars held the fort until Mike Modano set up Stu Barnes on a breakaway and Barnes beat Giguere to give the Stars some breathing room with a little less than eleven minutes to go.

Another goal by Steve Ott, set up by Barnes forcing a turnover, and the already remote chances of a Ducks rally officially became toast.

Outside of that O'Donnell mistake early the Ducks played well, but they didn't generate a lot of scoring chances and they didn't score until Mathieu Schneider scored a meaningless goal with eight seconds left to spoil Turco's shutout. But all that added up to a loss, a 3-1 deficit and a big mountain to climb in this series.

"It's a challenge but the reality is we have got to win the next game and then focus on the next one after that," Giguere said. "We can't think about what it's going to take to win the series. We have got to think about what it's going to take to win the next game. They are outplaying us it seems and when they have a chance they seem to bury it, which is not ok. We haven't played to the level we need to be successful."

The Stars can close the series out Friday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, where they won the first two games.

"We’d like to get it done tomorrow night," said Stars captain Brenden Morrow. "We’re in a pretty good position right now."

A lot better shape than the Ducks.

• Loui Eriksson picks off a pass by Ducks defenseman Sean O'Donnell and sets up Joel Lundqvist, who rips a shot past J-S Giguere to give Dallas the key first goal late in the first period.
   
• Ducks appear score off the rebound of a Todd Bertuzzi wraparound at 8:00 of the second period, but video review clearly shows that Brian Sutherby kicked the puck into the net and the goal is waved off.
   
• Mike Modano's long pass sets up Stu Barnes on a breakaway and Barnes beats Giguere five-hole to give the Stars a 2-0 lead with 10:59 left in the game.