DALLAS -- There's something about the Columbus Blue Jackets that brings out the best in Scott Young.
Young bailed the Dallas Stars out of a tense situation by turning a steal into a short-handed goal midway through a five-minute penalty kill early in the third period, protecting a lead that turned into a 4-2 victory Wednesday night.
The Stars stretched their unbeaten streak to 12 and Young upped his career goal total against Columbus to 12 in 13 games. It's the most by any opponent in the Blue Jackets' 2½-year history. Young has 10 goals this season, with two coming in three games against Columbus.
"Younger's goal was huge for us, and that whole kill was big because it gave us the mental edge in the third period," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said.
The Stars were up 2-1 when Brenden Morrow received a major penalty and a game misconduct for ramming into Duvie Westcott from behind. Columbus ended up not even getting off a shot during that span and came out of it down by two goals.
Young's play started when he snagged the puck from Derrick Walser at the blue line. He skated in untouched and beat goalie Marc Denis.
"It was an easy pass, and I missed it," Walser said. "It went off the heel of my stick and it went about a foot. It happens, but you don't want to contribute to a goal like that."
Mike Modano also had a special night, tying Neal Broten for the most games in franchise history (992), then breaking Broten's assist record by helping set up a goal by Bill Guerin in the second period.
Modano, who also assisted on Dallas' fourth goal, already held club records for goals, points, game-winners and short-handed goals.
"There's a lot of movement of players nowadays, and I've been lucky to hang around here," said Modano, whose NHL career began when the franchise was the Minnesota North Stars. "It's special."
The Western Conference-leading Stars are 9-0-3 since losing in Nashville on Dec. 26. It's the longest unbeaten streak in the NHL this season and the third-best in franchise history. Dallas is three games from matching its best run, which came during the 1998-99 Stanley Cup-winning season.
Dallas' Ron Tugnutt, making his second start against the team he spent the last two seasons with, stopped 17 of 19 shots. It was much better than his previous attempt against the Blue Jackets, when he gave up four goals on 28 shots in a 4-2 loss.
"I lost in their building earlier in the year and that bothered me, so I was hoping I'd get another chance here," Tugnutt said. "I'm pleased."
Tugnutt already was scheduled to start this game, but Dallas had little choice when All-Star Marty Turco was suspended for one game for high-sticking Colorado's Peter Forsberg in the first period Monday night. No penalty was assessed on the play, but the punishment came down Tuesday.
The Blue Jackets fell to 4-4 since general manager Doug MacLean fired Dave King and took over as coach. They were coming off a victory in Chicago that ended a three-game losing streak.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2003, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
