DALLAS -- Mike Modano pounded a shot into the top of the net in the first extra round of a shootout, giving the Dallas Stars a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday in a thrilling game between the two best teams in the Western Conference.
Dallas goaltender Marty Turco beat Detroit for the first time in 11 tries -- and this would've been the toughest for the former University of Michigan star to get over had Modano not bailed him out.
After two superb periods, Turco had the penalty that led to the Red Wings' lone goal early in the third period. Then, with Dallas leading 2-1 on the third round of the shootout, Turco appeared to have won the game by forcing Henrik Zetterberg to miss wide right but a replay led to him being called for throwing his stick at the puck. The ruling tied the shootout.
Detroit goalie Manny Legace stopped Antti Miettinen on Dallas' third chance, forcing an extra round. Turco then redeemed himself by popping Robert Lang's shot over the goal and Modano followed with his blistering shot past Legace.
The Stars -- playing their third game in 3½ days -- won their fourth straight, the last three in shootouts. Dallas is a league-best 8-0 in shootouts and now has 70 points. The Stars also have beaten their conference nemesis for the second straight time after going 10 games against them without a win.
The Red Wings, who upped their West-best point total to 71, fell to 1-1 in shootouts.
Turco made 27 saves, seven coming in overtime. He went 2-of-4 in overtime after having stopped 11-of-12 coming in.
Sergei Zubov and Jussi Jokinen had the other shootout scores for Dallas. Jokinen is 8-for-8 in shootouts and Zubov 5-for-8.
Tomas Holmstrom scored Detroit's lone goal in regulation, but the Red Wings had plenty of chances. Turco snuffed the league's best power play on its first five tries and another in overtime. He also handled more than 1½ minutes with Detroit having a two-man advantage.
Jere Lehtinen scored Dallas' regulation goal with 5:12 left. His team-best 25th goal of the season ended a skid of seven games without a point.
Turco had been 0-5-5 against the Red Wings. Although Dallas won the last meeting 6-3, he was pulled after getting his team behind 3-0.
Notes
- The afternoon game was part of a hockey-basketball doubleheader at Dallas' arena, the first time in 11 overlapping seasons the NBA and NHL teams have played at home on the same day.
- The game got off to a bumpy start with five penalties in the first six minutes. It was so wild that a Dallas player was released from the penalty box too soon and the game clock was reset to 20:00.
- The only teams Turco hasn't beaten are Philadelphia (0-0-3) and Pittsburgh (0-1-0).
- The Red Wings have scored a power-play goal in 14 straight games.
