Game Recap

DALLAS 6, TAMPA BAY 2 DALLAS (Ticker) -- Mike Modano recorded a goal and an assist as the Dallas Stars used their most explosive period in a year to post a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. All but two of the goals came in the second period, when Dallas scored on four straight shots to build a 5-1 lead. Brett Hull had a power-play goal in the second for the Stars, who scored five times in the period. They had not scored five goals in any period since November 5, 1999, when they exploded in the third for a 6-4 win over Phoenix. Dallas had five different scorers and 13 different players record a point in the second period. "I thought we played really well for the first two periods," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We played very physical and everybody was on board. It's nice to see everyone getting involved with the scoring." Joe Nieuwendyk punctuated the win with a last-second goal as Dallas improved to 14-3-3 all-time against Tampa Bay. That is its best record against any NHL club, exluding the last three expansion teams. "They're a top team in the league, but we can't give them more respect than they deserve," Tampa Bay goaltender Kevin Weekes said. "We can't be intimidated by teams like this or affected by them. We just can't have that." Weekes stopped just 15 of 20 shots for the Lightning, who finished a 1-1-1 road trip. Starting his 12th straight game, Weekes gave up goals to Brad Lukowich, Roman Lyashenko, Mike Keane and Modano on consecutive straight shots during an 8:32 span. But he refused to blame it on his workload. "Fatigue did not play a factor," he said. "I'm 25 years old and in great shape. I'm not 38 and in the later stages of my career. I thought I was in position for all the goals and I felt like I could have stopped them." Lukowich opened the scoring 6:41 into the period with his first goal since March 19. But Pavel Kubina tied 47 seconds later when he scored during a two-man advantage. Then the floodgates opened. Lyashenko scored his first goal of the season with 7:39 left in the period when he converted Darryl Sydor's perfect feed from behind the net. Just 93 seconds later, Keane reached from the bottom of the left faceoff circle to push Kirk Muller's feed from the boards past Weekes for his fifth goal. Modano scored his sixth 78 seconds later, finishing off a pretty passing play. Jere Lehtinen threw the puck from the top of the left circle to the low slot, where Grant Marshall one-timed a soft pass to a driving Modano at the bottom of the left cirlce. Hull scored Dallas' fifth goal of the period on the power play with 46 seconds to play. It was his 12th of the season and fourth in as many games. "Everyone's working hard right now," Lukowich said. "We were a little shaky starting out, but Hitch was positive after the first period and we just kept working hard, and it paid off." Marty Turco started for the first time since October 20 and improved to 2-1-0 as Ed Belfour's backup. He made 18 saves, stopping nine of the 10 shots he faced in the third period. "I thought Marty made five or six really good saves on quality chances," Hitchcock said. "I wasn't worried about him being rusty because he's more of a reactionary goalie." Derian Hatcher, Lehtinen and Marshall had two assists apiece for the Stars, who extended their unbeaten streak to three games (2-0-1) with their third straight home win. Rookie Brad Richards scored a power-play goal in the third for the Lightning, who are 4-2-1 since a four-game losing streak. ----------------------------- Tampa Bay 0 1 1--2 Dallas 0 5 1--6 ----------------------------- FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Modin, T.B. (interference), 8:08; Lyashenko, Dal (hooking), 11:42; Ekman, T.B. (boarding), 14:14; T Bouck, Dal (elbowing), 17:32. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Dallas, Lukowich 1 (Modano, Lehtinen), 6:41. 2, Tampa Bay, Kubina 5 (power play) (M Johnson, Galanov), 7:28. 3, Dallas, Lyashenko 1 (Sydor, T Bouck), 12:21. 4, Dallas, Keane 5 (Muller, Donato), 13:55. 5, Dallas, Modano 6 (Marshall, Lehtinen), 15:13. 6, Dallas, Hull 12 (power play) (Hatcher, Marshall), 19:14. Penalties: Ja Cullimore, T.B. (instigator, fighting major, misconduct), 3:10; Diduck, Dal (tripping, fighting major), 3:10; Modin, T.B. (Obstr hooking), 5:12; Morrow, Dal (interference), 5:29; Modano, Dal (high sticking), 7:03; Lecavalier, T.B. (Obstr holding), 17:36. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 7, Tampa Bay, B Richards 4 (power play) (Galanov, Kharitonov), 18:21. 8, Dallas, Nieuwendyk 9 (Langenbrunner, Hatcher), 19:59. Penalties: Lehtinen, Dal (high sticking), 6:27; Lyashenko, Dal (slashing), 10:19; Lukowich, Dal (slashing), 12:01; Matvichuk, Dal (roughing), 17:27. Shots on goal: --------------------------------- Tampa Bay 2 8 10--20 Dallas 12 8 5--25 --------------------------------- Power-play Conversions: Tam - 2 of 8, Dal - 1 of 4. Goalies: Tampa Bay, Weekes (20 shots, 15 saves; record: 6-7-1), D Cloutier (start of 3rd, 5, 4). Dallas, Turco (20, 18; record: 2-1-0). A:17,001. Referees: Heyer, Pollock. Linesmen: Gibbs, Lazarowich.