Game Recap

DALLAS 4, NASHVILLE 3 (OT) DALLAS (AP) - Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock put Jere Lehtinen, Brett Hull and Mike Modano back together on the Stars' top line Wednesday night, and the reunion had the desired effect. Lehtinen scored a career-high three goals and Hull tallied the game-winner with 3:19 left in overtime as the Stars earned a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators. "Modano and Lehtinen had a bead on the game from the start, and Brett's an opportunistic guy," Hitchcock said. "They were outstanding." Hull and Modano had two assists each to help the Stars improve to 5-2 in their last seven games. But Lehtinen was Dallas' best player, leading the team with eight shots on goal. "He could have had six goals tonight the way he was playing," Hitchcock said. Lehtinen usually does the dirty work when he plays with Modano and Hull, but the checker became the scorer against the Predators. "It feels good to get it (the hat trick), especially with us winning," Lehtinen said. Nashville forced overtime on Kimmo Timonen's goal with 14:49 remaining in regulation. Hull then gave the Stars their first overtime victory of the season on a snap shot from the slot for his team-high 25th goal. Brad Lukowich's pass hit Hull in the ankle, and that forced Hull to take the play inside rather than drifting out to the left circle. "It was a lucky play that it bounced off my ankle," Hull said. "If it would have been on my stick, I would have gone wide." Lehtinen snapped a 2-2 tie with 17:32 to play when he scored his 14th goal of the season, from the right circle, off a feed by Modano. But the Predators rallied for the third time, tying it when Timonen's blast from the left point hit off the stick of a diving Lehtinen and into the upper left corner past Stars goalie Ed Belfour. "We battled all night," Predators right wing Tom Fitzgerald said. "But it seemed like every chance he (Lehtinen) got, he put the puck in the net. Give him credit. He'd done it his entire career. He's a silent superstar." Lehtinen's power-play rebound at 7:41 of the second period gave Dallas a 1-0 lead. Greg Johnson answered 1:29 later when his shot from the right circle glanced off Lukowich's stick and past Belfour. Lehtinen converted a goal-mouth feed from Hull at 14:53 of the second period to give Dallas a 2-1 advantage. But Nashville tied it with 29.2 seconds left in the second period on Drake Berehowsky's power-play goal off a scramble in front of the net. DALLAS STARS 4, Nashville Predators 3 (OT) 1ST 2ND 3RD OT FINAL --- --- --- --- ----- Nashville 0 2 1 0 3 Dallas 0 2 1 1 4 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: Valicevic, Nas (tripping), 8:02; Hull, Dal (slashing), 16:27; Lukowich, Dal (slashing), 19:19. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Dallas, Lehtinen 12 (Hull, Zubov), 7:41 (pp). 2, Nashville, Johnson 8 (Ronning, Houlder), 9:10. 3, Dallas, Lehtinen 13 (Hull, Modano), 14:53 (pp). 4, Nashville, Berehowsky 4 (Yachmenev, Ronning), 19:30 (pp). PENALTIES: Berehowsky, Nas (cross-checking), 6:41; Fitzgerald, Nas (ob.-holding), 10:40; Skrbek, Nas (holding), 13:59; Lyashenko, Dal (elbowing), 17:40. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 5, Dallas, Lehtinen 14 (Modano, Sydor), 2:28. 6, Nashville, Timonen 8 (Berehowsky), 5:11 (pp). PENALTIES: Zubov, Dal (tripping), 4:15; Eaton, Nas (slashing), 8:38. OVERTIME - SCORING: 7, Dallas, Hull 25 (Lukowich, Matvichuk), 1:41. PENALTIES: None. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- Nashville 10 12 4 1 27 Dallas 9 10 9 1 29 POWER PLAY: Nashville 2 of 4; Dallas 2 of 5. GOALIES: Nashville, Vokoun 9-13-4 (29 shots-25 saves). Dallas, Belfour 18-12-4 (27-24). Referees: Bill McCreary, Bernard DeGrace. Linesmen: Wayne Bonney, Thor Nelson. A: 17,001 (17,001).