Game Recap

DALLAS 3, N.Y. ISLANDERS 1 UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - It was the game the New York Islanders tried to win and one the Dallas Stars needed to win. Dallas got unexpected offensive help from defenseman Richard Matvichuk, who scored his first two goals of the season, as the Stars beat the Islanders 3-1 Thursday night. "We knew after the performance we had in Jersey that we had to change our game," Matvichuk said of Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Devils in a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup finals. "We had to get back to defense first and worry about scoring goals later." The teams took seven shots in the opening period, but nothing got by goalies Marty Turco and John Vanbiesbrouck. In the second period, Dallas cashed in twice on power plays to grab a 2-0 lead. Joe Nieuwendyk opened the scoring at 7:58 when, while standing at the edge of the crease, he took the rebound of Brett Hull's shot and flipped the puck just under the crossbar. Matvichuk made it 2-0 at 13:22 when his slap shot from the right point got past Vanbiesbrouck. "Getting a couple of power-play goals was important," Nieuwendyk said. "But what was even bigger was getting the first goal. Getting that was huge, because we seem to play better with a lead." Mariusz Czerkawski cut the lead in half at 17:08 when he came off the bench on a line change, sneaked through coverage in the Dallas zone, and was given a perfect pass by Mark Parrish. Czerkawski sent a quick wrister past Turco for his ninth goal of the season. New York outshot Dallas 15-4 in the final period, but it was Matvichuk who gave the Stars insurance with 57.3 seconds left when he finished a 2-on-1 with Jere Lehtinen by wristing a shot past Vanbiesbrouck. "On the first one, I just shot it," Matvichuk said. "The second one was a great pass from Jere. If I get the puck with a chance to shoot, I'll do so to try to get it on net." "I think we played a pretty good game, and I think the third period was more us than them,"' Czerkawski said. "That's a good team over there. We had some chances, but we didn't take advantage of them." Dallas came off two straight emotional losses, a 6-0 blanking in their return to Minnesota, and the loss to New Jersey. Nieuwendyk said it was important for the team to reverse its fortunes. "We lost some of our identity," Nieuwendyk said. "We lost some of what we're all about. It's one thing to play hard and lose, but we haven't done that. It was time to just concentrate on playing hard." Dallas Stars 3, NEW YORK ISLANDERS 1 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 0 2 1 3 N.Y. Islanders 0 1 0 1 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: Matvichuk, Dal (tripping), 2:59; Mezei, NY (interference), 7:14; Morrow, Dal (tripping), 8:11; Lapointe, NY (ob.-holding), 13:56. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Dallas, Nieuwendyk 13 (Hull, Modano), 7:58 (pp). 2, Dallas, Matvichuk 1 (Modano), 13:22 (pp). 3, New York, Czerkawski 9 (Parrish, Scatchard), 17:08. PENALTIES: Jackman, Dal (holding), 3:03; Hamrlik, NY (ob.-tripping), 4:22; Connolly, NY (holding), 7:21; Kvasha, NY (tripping), 11:44; Morrow, Dal (slashing), 13:12; Connolly, NY (roughing), 13:12; Lukowich, Dal (holding stick), 18:48. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 4, Dallas, Matvichuk 2 (Lehtinen, Muller), 19:02. PENALTIES: None. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 7 9 4 20 N.Y. Islanders 7 6 15 28 POWER PLAY: Dallas 2 of 5; New York 0 of 4. GOALIES: Dallas, Turco 4-2-0 (28 shots-27 saves). New York, Vanbiesbrouck 6-12-4 (20-17). Referees: Kerry Fraser, Dean Warren. Linesmen: Steve Barton, Pat Dapuzzo. A: 10,887 (16,297).