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Wings outshine Stars Fedorov nets two goals in Detroit's win
Posted: Monday March 06, 2000 01:11 AM
DALLAS (AP) -- Sergei Fedorov seems to turn his game up a notch against the Dallas Stars. The Detroit center scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period and added a short-handed tally 10:01 later to send the Red Wings to a 5-3 victory over the Stars on Sunday night. Fedorov, playing his second game after missing five in a row due to a thumb injury, has 25 goals in 50 games against the Stars, the defending Stanley Cup champions. "It's always an intense game against them," Fedorov said. "It's not easy to play against a team like that. They're physical so you have to concentrate on every play. That helps you stay focused." Fedorov, who's also been bothered by knee, neck and head injuries, hopes his bad luck is over. "One of my goals this season is I don't want to let the team down after being injured," Fedorov said. "Both teams had their 'A' games out there. It was like a playoff game and I'm glad our team stayed focused." Goals by Fedorov and Pat Verbeek, in a 1:38 span of the second period, helped the Red Wings gain a split of the four-game season series with the Stars. After Fedorov made it 2-1 at 9:43 of the second, Verbeek, who played for Dallas last season, gave the Red Wings a two-goal lead with his 18th at 11:21. Verbeek came in on a two-man break and fired Steve Yzerman's pass past Ed Belfour. "It's nice to beat them," said Verbeek, after the Red Wings improved to 4-1-1 in their six games to remain ahead of the Stars in the Western Conference. "They want to win as bad as I do and they're trying to catch us in the standings." The Stars, the league's No. 2 defensive team, have not allowed more than five goals in a game this season. Detroit was the third team to get that many. "They're a difficult team to score goals on," said Red Wings center Steve Yzerman, who had two assists. "And I thought that we had a solid third period. We didn't let them get much going." Dallas rookie Brenden Morrow's 13th goal at 14:04 of the second trimmed Detroit's advantage to 3-2. But Fedorov's short-handed tally at 19:22, his 19th goal, restored the Red Wings' two-goal lead. Aaron Gavey notched a power play goal for the Stars with 16 seconds left in the second to make it 4-3. But Brendan Shanahan scored his 34th goal into an empty net with 14 seconds left to seal the victory. Mike Modano scored his 342nd career goal in the first period, tying him with Brian Bellows for the Stars' franchise record. Modano also assisted on Morrow's goal to give him 800 career points. Dallas got the game's first goal, 4:41 in, when Modano converted Jamie Langenbrunner's centering pass. "We went up 1-0 early and maybe that was bad," Stars defenseman Derian Hatcher said. "That's when we stopped playing and started making mistakes." Detroit tied it 1-1 at 12:01, on the power play, when Nicklas Lidstrom's shot from the top of the right circle got by Belfour, who was screened. Stars defenseman Richard Matvichuk returned to the lineup after he missed one game with a left knee injury that was thought to be much worse. Dallas penalty killer Guy Carbonneau bruised his wrist in the second period and did not return. He is listed as day-to-day. The Stars were also missing injured players Joe Nieuwendyk, Jere Lehtinen, Blake Sloan, Shawn Chambers and Brian Skrudland. While the Stars were disappointed to lose at home to Detroit, they do own recent wins over the Red Wings and fellow playoff contenders Colorado, Philadelphia and Phoenix. Dallas remains atop the Pacific Division, seven points better than Phoenix. "Our focus is on winning our division," Hatcher said. "And we've got a little cushion after a lot of tough games."
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