 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Mike Modano did not allow the Edmonton Oilers to savor their comeback. Modano scored his second goal of the game in the opening minute of overtime as the Dallas Stars squandered a two-goal lead in the third period before recording a 4-3 victory over the Oilers. Just 37 seconds into the extra session, Modano set up in the right faceoff circle, got a pass from defenseman Darryl Sydor and ripped a one-timer between goaltender Jussi Markkanen and the near goalpost. It helped the Stars improve to 3-0-1 since back-to-back losses. "Philippe (Boucher) and Darryl made two great passes to get me the puck in that spot," Modano said. "And even with all that, (Markkanen) still got a piece of it with his pad before it went in." "Mo has such a great talent level, and he's a big-game player and he proved it tonight," added Bill Guerin, who had a goal and an assist for Dallas against his former team. "You saw the way he shot the puck, he didn't baby it. There's no doubt he wanted to make sure it was in." It's the longest unbeaten stretch for Dallas since a 3-0-3 run last March. Dallas took a 3-1 lead into the third period, but Guerin was penalized for goaltender interference and rookie Niko Kapanen joined him in the penalty box for hooking 92 seconds later. Defenseman Janne Niinimaa cashed in during the two-man advantage, putting a shot off the crossbar that bounced off the backside of goalie Marty Turco and into the net at 2:13. After a sequence in which Markkanen made three straight difficult saves, Ethan Moreau grabbed a loose puck, sped down the left wing and across the middle before fooling Turco with a backhander just inside the left post that tied it with 7:08 remaining. "This game will be a learning experience for myself and for our team with the way we handled the third period," Turco said. "We were fortunate we came back in overtime. They didn't have a great first period, but they're a young team full of desire and motivation, so we knew we weren't out of the woods after 20 minutes. They played better in the second and better in the third." The Stars jumped out to 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by defenseman Derian Hatcher and Modano, the latter with just four seconds left. "We're creating our own troubles in the first period by not doing the simple things we need to do to get some momentum in the game," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "Everything's so disjointed it seems like we play the game from our defensive zone to their blue line, and that's where it ends. That doesn't get anybody into the game." Edmonton closed within 2-1 in the second period on defenseman Jason Smith's first goal of the season and 100th NHL point. But Guerin restored the Stars' two-goal advantage by tipping Boucher's slap shot by Markannen with 2:37 to go before the break. Turco stopped 28 shots and Markkanen 24. "There's no point in sugar-coating it, our efforts have been very poor here and we're very concerned about it," MacTavish said. "It's obviously something we have to rectify in a hurry. The last couple of third periods have been nice, but we shouldn't be in that position." "Considering the position we were in after two periods, down two goals to the Dallas Stars, we have to take the positive of the point we got tonight," Moreau added. "Obviously, everyone is down about giving up a goal in overtime, but I think we need to start talking about the good things we've done the last couple of games and build on them, instead of dwelling on what we're doing wrong." |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
