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Wednesday, Dec. 15 8:30pm ET
Dallas 7-2-0 in past nine games | |||||
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BOX SCORE
DALLAS (AP) -- All it took was a little luck for the Dallas Stars to break out of their 1-for-19 power-play slump. Joe Nieuwendyk energized Dallas' sluggish power play with two man-advantage goals to send the Stars to a 5-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. "The power play has been a big part of our success the last few years," Nieuwendyk said. "It's been a sore spot for us this year. I got two gift goals tonight, but our power play needed some luck." Nieuwendyk had a chance for his third goal with 16:30 left but he failed to get off a clean shot at an open net. "I tried to redirect it but it rolled on me and it got caught on my stick," said Nieuwendyk. Brian Skrudland, Sergei Zubov and Mike Modano added even-strength goals to help Dallas improve to 7-2-0 in its last nine games. Valeri Bure's 17th goal with 7:04 to play averted a shutout for the Flames, who have scored only four goals in their last three games. Dallas is 11-1-0 when it scores at least one power play goal, but the Stars have scored more than one goal with the man advantage in only three games this season. "We need our power play working if we're going to win," Stars defenseman Derian Hatcher said. "We've been getting a lot of chances. Tonight a few of them went in." Calgary had been unbeaten (2-0-2) in its previous four games. The Flames played a 1-1 tie in St. Louis on Tuesday night, despite getting outshot 50-17. The Flames were finishing a difficult stretch of the schedule during which they played nine of 10 games on the road, the last three road games over a four-day span. Calgary had a season-low 13 shots on goal on Wednesday night. "In a game like this you need a lot of second and third efforts, and we didn't have it," Flames coach Brian Sutter said. "We've played a lot of hockey lately and it showed tonight." The Stars wanted to press the Flames and take advantage of their weary legs. "We caught Calgary a little tired, coming in here back-to-back and playing overtime last night," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Maybe that was to our advantage."Dallas took a 2-0 first-period lead on Skrudland's first goal of the season and Nieuwendyk's ninth. Skrudland notched his first goal since last Jan. 27 on a deflection at 3:30, then Nieuwendyk connected on a power play rebound into an open net at 12:15. Nieuwendyk knocked another loose puck into an open net on a power play with 33 seconds left in the second period to extend Dallas' advantage to 3-0. Zubov's 40-foot slap shot with 18:58 to play pushed the Stars' lead to 4-0. After Bure beat rookie goaltender Manny Fernandez to end Fernandez's bid for his first NHL shutout, Modano notched his 11th goal of the season with 5:41 to play to make it 5-1. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Calgary Clubhouse Dallas Clubhouse Stars add to lineup, sign free agent Muller, then trade for Dean
RECAPS NY Rangers 8 Los Angeles 3
Dallas 5 AUDIO/VIDEO   Brian Skrudland scores the first goal for Dallas.avi: 912 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   | |||||