Dallas Stars 5, Tampa Bay Lightning 1 (Preseason)

by Mark Stepneski of Andrew's Stars Page

DALLAS — Chris Conner had two goals and one assist and Sergei Zubov had three assists as the Dallas Stars ended the preseason with a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay at the American Airlines Center Saturday night.

Niklas Hagman, Jeff Halpern and Brenden Morrow also scored goals and Trevor Daley had two assists. Marty Turco went the distance in goal, stopping 22 of 23 shots.

The Stars, who were held to nine shots in regulation on Thursday, put 32 shots on net Saturday night. Dallas ended the preseason 4-2-1. They open the regular season Wednesday night in Denver against Colorado. Their home opener is Friday against the Boston Bruins.

Conner's three point night gave him a team-high nine points (three goals, six assists) for the preseason. He accomplished that in five games played. Sergei Zubov finished second on the team with eight points (three goals, five assists) during the preseason. Zubov played in four of the team's seven games.

Game Notes

Chris Conner opened the scoring for the Stars, deflecting a Sergei Zubov shot from the right point past Lightning goalie Marc Denis

Conner set up the Stars second goal, getting to a loose puck and centering it to Niklas Hagman, who beat Denis.

The Stars scored again 39 second after the Hagman goal when Jeff Halpern won an offensive zone draw and then tipped Zubov shot past Denis to make it a 3-1 game.

Conner scored his second goal of the game in the second period, redirecting a Trevor Daley shot into the net to make it a 4-1 game.

The Stars made it 5-1 when they scored on the front end of a 4:00 minute power play. Mike Modano sent a cross-ice pass to Brenden Morrow, who put it into the open side of the net.

Krys Barch dropped the gloves with Tampa's Nick Tarnasky early in the game. Barch won the fight and Tarnasky ended up with a broken nose. Brad Winchester also picked up a fighting major shortly after the Barch-Tarnasky scrap. Winchester took on Tampa's Andre Roy, who got in a couple of good shots before WInchester wrestled him to the ice.

Antti Miettinen led Dallas with seven shots on goal. Brad Winchester was next with six.

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