SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - As difficult as it is, the Dallas Stars
are getting back to the business of defending their Stanley Cup
championship.

Showing they're trying to move past the losses of Mike Modano and
Darryl Sydor, the Stars rebounded from their first loss of the
year and beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 Saturday night, getting
goals from rookie Pavel Patera and Jere Lehtinen in the final
5:40.

"We'd love to have a full team but we don't," said Mike Keane,
who assisted on Patera's go-ahead score. "The players that showed
up tonight played strong and came through and got the win. It's
going to take a while for us to adjust to players missing. We're
still learning how to work together and we're slowing learning
how to play together."

Modano suffered a concussion and strained neck ligaments a week
ago when he was checked hard from behind and slammed into the
boards by Anaheim defenseman Ruslan Salei, who has been suspended
for 10 games. Sydor sustained a fractured eye socket in the same
game. Both are on injured reserve.

The Stars lost a rematch with Anaheim Friday night, 3-0, before
coming back to snap the Sharks' season-opening three-game winning
streak.

"Their game hasn't changed much even though they're missing some
key people," said Stephane Matteau, who had San Jose's first
goal. "They played us very tight in typical Dallas fashion, just
waiting for our mistakes. And when we made them they took
advantage of them, plus their goaltender made some great saves."

With 5:40 remaining, Patera, who has replaced Modano, converted
Dallas' go-ahead score, streaking into the slot to knock in a
rebound from a shot by Keane. The goal was set up when goaltender
Steve Shields lost his stick and had to use one given to him by
defenseman Brad Stuart, who then was left empty-handed against
Keane.

"I can't remember exactly how I lost my stick. I think I got
bumped when somebody skated by and then it got kicked away,"
Shields said. "But you make mistakes like that and it's the
difference between winning and losing games."

Less than 1 1/2 minutes later, the Stars went up 3-1 when
Lehtinen picked up a loose puck and skated in to beat Shields.
San Jose pulled back to within one when Owen Nolan scored his
sixth goal.

Dallas came out strong, outshooting San Jose 16-6 in the first
period and scoring on a power-play goal by Derek Plante.


Dallas Stars 3, SAN JOSE SHARKS 2

                    1ST  2ND  3RD   FINAL
                    ---  ---  ---   -----
Dallas               1    0    2      3
San Jose             0    1    1      2


FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Dallas, Langenbrunner 2 (Plante,
Hatcher), 8:29 (pp). PENALTIES: Matteau, SJ (holding), 7:00;
Shields, SJ, served by Sturm (delay of game), 14:51; Hatcher, Dal
(tripping), 19:43.

SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 2, San Jose, Matteau 2 (Sturm, Stuart),
15:30. PENALTIES: Hatcher, Dal (cross-checking), 10:46;
Damphousse, SJ (ob.-hooking), 11:53; Ricci, SJ (ob.-holding),
19:28.

THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 3, Dallas, Patera 1 (Keane, Hatcher),
14:20. 4, Dallas, Lehtinen 1, 15:45. 5, San Jose, Nolan 6 (Sturm,
Stuart), 17:11. PENALTIES: Letang, Dal (ob.-hooking), 6:49.


SHOTS ON GOAL
                    1ST  2ND  3RD   TOTAL
                    ---  ---  ---   -----
Dallas              16    7   10     33
San Jose             6    9   11     26


POWER PLAY: Dallas 1 of 4; San Jose 0 of 3. GOALIES: Dallas,
Fernandez 1-0-0 (26 shots-24 saves). San Jose, Shields 2-1-0
(33-30).

Referee: Mike Leggo. Linesmen: Wayne Bonney, Swede Knox.

A: 17,483. (17,483).