Dallas Stars 2, Vancouver Canucks 1

by Mark Stepneski of Andrew's Stars Page

DALLAS — Friday's Dallas Stars game against Vancouver looked a lot like Wednesday's 3-2 overtime loss to Calgary, but there were a few key differences and the end result was a 2-1 victory at the American Airlines Center.

They scored on the power play to extend a lead, came up with a five-on-three penalty kill and closed out a 2-1 lead when the Canucks pushed hard for the game-tying goal.

"It was like the Calgary game and we did a lot of good things," said Stars center Brad Richards, who scored a goal to extend his points streak to seven games. "They are a patient team and stuck with it. They had a chance on a five-on-three [power play]. That's the type of game we have to win. We deserved to win and we got the job done tonight."

The Stars, who snapped a three-game winless streak, dominated play most of the night. They outshot the Canucks 47-33 in the game and had a 40-16 advantage through the first two periods, but could muster only a 1-0 lead through the first 40 minutes. Some sharp goaltending from Cory Schneider, the Canucks' No. 3 goaltender, kept the game close.

"It would have been tough to get 50 shots and come away with a tie or a loss," said Stars center Mike Modano. "Their goalie played well. He really made some great saves, point blank shots. We felt we had some good looks at it."

The Stars outshot Vancouver 22-10 in the first period, but couldn't crack Schneider. It took the 29th shot of the night, which came at 8:05 of the second period, to beat the 23-year-old who was the AHL Goaltender of the Year last season. Loui Eriksson picked off a pass along the boards and set up Richards, who roofed a shot from the slot.

A Brenden Morrow tap in from the side of the net with the Stars on the power play made it a 2-0 game at 3:50 of the third period. The Canucks made it 2-1 with a Mason Raymond goal off a rebound with 11:46 left and they kept up the pressure.

Their best chance came when they got back-to-back power plays, including 18 seconds of five-on-three time about three minutes after scoring their goal. But Marty Turco, who had 32 saves in the game, and the Stars shut them down.

"Marty came up with a couple of big saves on the penalty kill. That was a hard-fought win for us. I was really pleased," said Stars head coach Marc Crawford. "That's two good games in a row now. Now we get a chance to get a third one in Minnesota."

The Canucks, who are 10-8-0 on the season, had a three-game winning streak snapped.

"They were the quicker and more effective team in the first two periods," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "We had one player fresh and that was our goaltender. He had a great outing and gave us a chance to stay in it."

The Stars play at Minnesota Saturday night.