Game Recap

DALLAS 3, TAMPA BAY 2 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Ed Belfour is back to his winning ways. Belfour won for the first time since returning from a two-day suspension, making 22 saves as Dallas beat Tampa Bay 3-2 Sunday night. Belfour improved to 10-4-3 against Lightning and the Stars built on their domination of Tampa Bay. Dallas, which won for the fourth time in five games, improved to 8-1-2 at Tampa Bay and 15-3-3 overall against the Lightning. "He was good all game," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said of Belfour "He shut the door. I didn't think (the Lightning) were going to score in the third period the way he was in the zone." Belfour lost to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night in his first game back since serving the two-day suspension for walking out on the team after arguing with Hitchcock on Jan. 6 in Boston. Sergei Zubov's power-play goal 5:10 into the third period sealed the win for the Stars. With Lightning defenseman Sergey Gusev off for tripping, Zubov took the puck from Mike Modano and one-timed a shot between the pads of goalie Dan Cloutier. Tampa Bay, 1-3 under new coach John Tortorella, has lost six of its last seven. "Tonight, we were fresher. The speed was there," said Tortorella, who is 0-2 at home since replacing Steve Ludzik on Jan. 6. "We just need to grab on to something, anything. It's not a win, and that's what these players want more than anything." Lightning forward Brad Richards opened the scoring 8:54 in. Richards leads all rookies with 13 goals and 22 assists. Roman Lyashenko tied it with a shot that glanced off the crossbar behind Cloutier at 17:26 of the first period. Tampa Bay regained the lead six minutes into the second when Fredrik Modin beat Belfour with a slap shot to the glove side. Dallas tied the game at 2 at the 12:05 mark when Cloutier got caught outside the crease. Left wing Brenden Morrow scored his 11th goal into the empty net. "The Dallas Stars are a positive that we can take out of this game," said Cloutier, who finished with 16 saves. "They are a team that waits for us to make mistakes, and they capitalize on our errors." Dallas Stars 3, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 2 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 1 1 1 3 Tampa Bay 1 1 0 2 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Tampa Bay, Richards 13 (St. Louis), 8:54. 2, Dallas, Lyashenko 4 (Lehtinen, Sloan), 17:26. PENALTIES: Sarich, TB (interferece), 12:42; Nieuwendyk, Dal (roughing), 13:53; Kubina, TB (rouhing), 13:53. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 3, Tampa Bay, Modin 21 (St. Louis), 6:06. 4, Dallas, Morrow 11 (Nieuwendyk, Marshall), 12:05. PENALTIES: Mara, TB (interference), 3:04; Gusev, TB (tripping), 12:56; Morrow, Dal (boarding), 14:29. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 5, Dallas, Zubov 5 (Modano, Hull), 5:10 (pp). PENALTIES: Gusev, TB (tripping), 3:52; Morrow, Dal (goalie interference), 9:01; M.Johnson, TB (interference), 10:30. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 6 5 8 19 Tampa Bay 8 7 9 24 POWER PLAY: Dallas 1 of 5; Tampa Bay 0 of 2. GOALIES: Dallas, Belfour 17-12-4 (24 shots-22 saves). Tampa Bay, Cloutier 3-11-3 (19-16). Referees: Kerry Fraser, Terry Gregson. Linesmen: Dan McCourt, Pierre Racicot. A: 12,774 (19,758).