Game Recap

DALLAS 4, CHICAGO 1 DALLAS (AP) - Brett Hull was much more impressed with Ed Belfour's goaltending than his own scoring streak. Hull had two goals and Belfour came within 3:43 of his eighth shutout of the season as the Dallas Stars beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Friday night. "Eddie was fabulous," Hull said. "I'm mad he didn't get the shutout. We have to look more at personal accomplishments and help people achieve them. He's the most underrated goalie to play in a long time." Hull's list of achievements continued to grow as he reached 629 goals for his career, one behind Detroit's Steve Yzerman for No. 7 in NHL history. Hull added an assist to give him seven goals and six assists in his last 11 games. The numbers are nice, but Hull doesn't believe in a goal-scoring "zone." "I just go out with the flow and let things happen," said Hull, who has 19 goals this season, only five short of last season's total. "I'd like to think I'm a pretty good goal-scorer so I'm not really surprised." Belfour, who played for Chicago from 1989-97, stopped the Blackhawks' first 26 shots before Boris Mironov notched his first goal of the season on a power play. Belfour finished with 29 saves. "It (the shutout) would have been nice, but the main thing is to win the game," Belfour said. "To get the shutout would have been a bonus." With seven shutouts, Belfour is on pace to break the league record of 15 in a season set by Chicago's Tony Esposito in 1969-70. The Blackhawks dropped their fifth in a row to match their longest losing streak of the season. Chicago got off to a strong start, outshooting Dallas 12-5 in the first period. But the Blackhawks couldn't get the puck past Belfour until they'd fallen behind 4-0. "The team was ready to play, we just got beat," Chicago coach Alpo Suhonen said. "Most of the game there was no difference of the level of play on either side except for key moments. And Belfour was unbelievable." Mike Modano scored his 11th goal with 18:55 to play to give Dallas a 4-0 lead. Hull put Dallas in front 1-0 at 8:11 of the second period from the slot. Jamie Langenbrunner picked up his second short-handed goal in as many games on a rebound at 11:45. DALLAS STARS 4, Chicago Blackhawks 1 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Chicago 0 0 1 1 Dallas 0 3 1 4 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: Hatcher, Dal (tripping), 7:31; Bell, Chi (boarding), 13:17; Sullivan, Chi (tripping), 15:51: Probert, Chi (slashing), 19:15. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Dallas, Hull 18 (Zubov, Modano), 8:11. 2, Dallas, Lagenbrunner 7 (Van Allen), 11:45 (sh). 3, Dallas, Hull 19 (Morrow, Matvichuk), 13:35. PENALTIES: Muller, Dal (hooking), 7:05; Nylander, Chi (holding), 7:47; Helenius, Dal (interference), 10:23; Probert, Chi (hooking), 15:51; Probert, Chi (interference), 18:50. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 4, Dallas, Modano 11 (Hull, Sydor), 1:05. 5, Chicago, Mironov 1 (Zhamnov, Spacek), 16:17 (pp). PENALTIES: Matvichuk, Dal (tripping), 7:19; Modano, Dal (roughing), 7:58; Amonte, Chi (hooking), 7:58; Allison, Chi, major (fighting), 10:44; Marshall, Dal, major (fighting), 10:44; Morrow, Dal (tripping), 15:35; Helenius, Dal, major (fighting), 17:51; Vandenbussche, Chi, major (fighting), 17:51. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Chicago 12 9 9 30 Dallas 5 14 6 25 POWER PLAY: Chicago 1 of 6; Dallas 0 of 6. GOALIES: Chicago, Thibault 8-14-2 (25 shots-21 saves). Dallas, Belfour 14-7-4 (30-29). Referees: Brad Meier, Rob Shick. Linesmen: Dan McCourt, Dan O'Rourke. A: 17,001 (17,001).