Stars score late to tie, but fall in shootout

Thursday, November 26, 2009-1:26:am
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The Dallas Stars scored a late goal to force overtime, for the fifth time in six times this season they couldn't get the extra point in the shootout. The St. Louis Blues got the extra goal in the shootout and the extra point, beating the Stars 4-3 at American Airlines Center Wednesday night.

"The shootout didn't go our way, but we could have been a lot worse off,'' coach Mark Crawford said.

The Stars started strong in the game, getting the first nine shots on goal and taking a 1-0 lead, but they were sluggish at times and needed a goal in the final 30 seconds to get a point out of it.

"It was a sloppy game. We started out doing what we wanted to do, but for some reason we decided not to do it anymore," said Stars center Brad Richards, who had two assists in the game. "That's not how we wanted to play. We started turning pucks over and not doing what we did in the first 10 minutes. We weren't going to keep them to zero shots for the whole game."

Blues forward T.J. Oshie snapped a 2-2 tie with 9:00 to go in the game, but the Stars struck late in the game to force the overtime. The Stars were able to keep the Blues pinned in their own zone, pulled Marty Turco with a little more than a minute to go and with 25.4 seconds to go a Richards shot from the right point deflected off traffic, last touching Brenden Morrow, to tie the game at 3-3.

In the shootout, Andy McDonald and Brad Boyes scored for the Blues. Richards scored for the Stars, while Mike Ribeiro hit the post and Stephane Robidas was stopped by Blues goalie Ty Conklin.

Both teams scored twice in the first period. Robidas scored on the power play for the Stars and Erik Johnson answered for the Blues. After Toby Petersen put the Stars up 2-1, St. Louis' David Backes responded for the Blues.

The win was the third in the last four games for St. Louis, which improved to 9-9-4 on the season.

"We got what we deserved tonight," St. Louis head coach Andy Murray said. "We talked about playing 60 minutes and we played a pretty darn good 52, anyway."

The Stars, who are 3-1-1 in their last five games and 11-6-7 on the season, play at Phoenix on Friday and then host Tampa Bay on Saturday.

Game Recap
The Stars struck first, scoring on their second power play of the game to take a 1-0 lead. After a faceoff win by Mike Modano, Brad Richards got the puck to Stephane Robidas, who scored off a shot from the point at the 5:37 mark.

But the Blues drew even on their first and only power play of the period. Brad Boyes found a pinching Erik Johnson, who beat a diving Marty Turco from the right side at 9:00 of the first.

The Stars regained the lead less than two minutes later when Toby Petersen took a pass from Tom Wandell on a two-on-one rush and blasted the puck past Blues goalie Ty Conklin from the right circle at the 10:43 mark.

The Blues drew even less than two minutes after that when David Backes won an offensive zone faceoff, went to the net and scored off the rebound of a Roman Polak shot from the point at the 12:02 mark of the first.

There was no scoring in the second period. The Stars had the only two power play chances of the period, but were unable to take advantage.

The Blues took a 3-2 lead 11:00 into the third when forward T.J. Oshie roofed a shot over Turco after a give-and-go with Backes off the rush.

Turco helped keep the Stars within a goal when he stopped Oshie on a shorthanded breakaway later in the period.

The Stars pulled Turco with a little more than a minute to go and the Stars got the equalizer with 26 seconds to go when a Brad Richards shot from the right point hit traffic and went into the net. Brenden Morrow as credited with the goal.

After a scoreless overtime, the game went to a shootout. Brad Richards scored for the Stars and Andy McDonald and Brad Boyes scored for the Blues, giving them their third win in four games.

Turning Points
  • Blues come out strong in the third period and T.J. Oshie snaps a 2-2 tie when he roofs a shot with 9:00 remaining in the third period.
     
  • Oshie gets a shorthanded breakaway with a chance to extend the Blues' lead, but Stars goalie Marty Turco makes the save to keep it a 3-2 game.
     
  • A Brad Richards shot from the point bounces off Brenden Morrow and past Blues goalie Ty Conklin to tie the game with 25.4 seconds to go, giving the Stars a point in the game.
Quotable
"We didn't forecheck. We were too casual. That's what happens when you play against team in this league. You can't take things for granted and you've got to keep working hard. We didn't do that and that's how we let them back into the game." - Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas

"It felt good coming back. I stepped right back in. But it's never fun when you step back in and the guys lose." - Stars forward James Neal, who returned from a two-game suspension

"I guessed he was going to shoot low and that's what happened." Blues goalie Ty Conklin, on stopping Stars Stephane Robidas in the shootout to give St. Louis the win.

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