Vancouver Canucks 4, Dallas Stars 3 (shootout)

by Mark Stepneski of Andrew's Stars Page

Jamie Benn's late goal got the Stars one point Sunday night at GM Place in Vancouver, but the Stars couldn't get the second point, falling 4-3 in a shootout to the Vancouver Canucks.

It was the third shootout loss of the season for the Stars (1-0-3), and the second on their three-game road trip through Western Canada during which they picked up four of six points by going 1-0-2.

"It is a good point for us," said Stars coach Marc Crawford. "We've got to get this shootout figured out. We gave away three points there this year. Our guys have got to be more serious about that part of the game. Those are points we'd like to have. ... It's a big part of the game now. That's the difference between somebody making the playoffs and somebody not making the playoffs. "

Kyle Wellwood and Ryan Kesler both scored on Stars goalie Marty in the shootout while Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro were both stopped by Roberto Luongo.

The Stars continued to struggled on the penalty kill as well, giving up two more Sunday on four shorthanded chances. They have now allowed seven power play goals on 16 shorthanded chances in the first four games.

"It's pretty miserable," Stars captain Brenden Morrow said of the penalty killing.

But the Stars found a way to get a point, overcoming deficits of 2-1 and 3-2 to get the point and force the extra period and the shootout.

Benn's goal was a big one. With time running down he crashed the net, took a pass from Mike Ribeiro and put it into the side of the net for his first NHL goal, which came in the area where he was born and raised.

"It was a good play by Brenden and Ribby," said Benn. "I just drove the net and tapped it in. It means a lot to score it here. I had a lot of friends and family here. It was a good time to the get the goal too."

Ribeiro and Richards also scored for the Stars, who outshot the Canucks 35-25. Turco stopped 22 of 25 shots in regulation and overtime, but fell to 0-0-3 on the season.

The Stars got Jere Lehtinen back in the lineup, but lost forward Steve Ott in the first period after he pulled an oblique muscle. It's not known how long he'll be out. The Canucks lost defenseman Sami Salo to a knee injury in the first period and the team announced before the game that forward Daniel Sedin would be out 4-6 weeks with a broken foot.

Game recap

The Stars controlled the game early, thanks to three power play chances in the first 6:46 of the game, and they cashed in on the second one when a Mike Ribeiro slap pass was accidentally redirected into the Canucks net by Vancouver's Rick Rypien 6:09 into the game.

The Canucks came close to scoring shorthanded on the third Dallas power play, but Marty Turco made a great save on Henrik Sedin on a two-on-one break.

But Vancouver drew even by scoring on their first power play chance. After keeping the Stars pinned in their own end for an extended time, Ryan Kesler scored from the top of the right circle at the 14:45 mark.

The Canucks got the only goal of the second period, scoring again on the power play. Sedin sent a cross-ice pass from the right circle to Mikael Samuelsson, who then set up Alex Burrows, who beat Turco from close range at the 16:46 mark of the second.

The Stars came close to tying it up, but Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo stopped Loui Eriksson on a breakaway late in the period.

Brad Richards tied it at 4:58 of the third period when Brad Richards got to the rebound of his own shot, started to skate to the back of the net but then stuffed the puck in behind Luongo to make it a 2-2 game.

The Canucks took the lead 6:53 into the third when defenseman Willie Mitchell pinched in to the front of the net and scored from close range.

The Stars tied the game with 1:33 left off the rush when Mike Ribeiro set up Jamie Benn, who scored from the side of the net for his first NHL goal.