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Miettinen's career night leads Stars past Predators

Dec 30, 2006 - 9:00 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- A memorable night for Antti Miettinen translated into another victory for the Dallas Stars.

Miettinen recorded his first career two-goal game and Jere Lehtinen added a tally and an assist as the Stars rolled to a 4-1 triumph over the Nashville Predators.

Entering with 18 goals in 128 career games, Miettinen came through with a strong effort on the power play Friday. After forging a 1-1 tie 5 1/2 minutes into the second period, the Finn gave Dallas a 3-1 lead at 7:34 of the third, just 31 seconds after Lehtinen snapped the deadlock with a man-advantage goal of his own.

"I try to play physical all the time," Miettinen said. "There are plenty of guys here to keep that tough mentality going. We can be tough to play against and win our 1-on-1 battles. Today was a solid 60 minutes for everyone."

Patrik Stefan added an empty-netter and Mike Ribeiro and defenseman Sergei Zubov each recorded two assists for the Stars, who have won five of their last seven.

Scott Hartnell netted the lone goal for Nashville, which lost for just the second time in nine games.

"We did it to ourselves," Predators netminder Chris Mason said. "I know they're missing a lot of guys and work extremely hard, but we did this to ourselves."

Just 4:51 into the game, rookie Alexander Radulov carried down the left side and dished to Hartnell, who chipped the puck past goaltender Marty Turco for his 15th goal and a 1-0 lead.

But Miettinen knotted the contest at 5:29 of the second with his first goal since November 27 during a 5-on-3 power play and Lehtinen put Dallas in front by scoring from the left side of the net on another two-man advantage at 7:03 of the final period.

The Stars went 3-for-8 with the extra skater.

"It's been good for us all year," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "There was an opportunity in the game for us to seize momentum, and our 5-on-3 got us a couple of goals. That was the turning point right there."

"We do have the talent to have a solid power play," Miettinen said. "We are communicating more, moving the puck well and adjusting to make things work."

"I thought we had too many penalties, and they converted on them," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "That sums up the whole game. They have three straight 5-on-3s and they convert. ... They have been living off their power play in the last two games. We fed them everything that they wanted."

Miettinen gave the Stars breathing room by beating Mason to the short side with a shot one-half minute later.

"We deserve what we got," Trotz said. "They check really well and you have to play a chip-and-run game, have to win battles, grind it out and convert your chances. We refused to do that and got what we deserved."

With the win, Dallas improved to 14-2-0 all-time at home against Nashville.

"It's just luck, I guess," Stars center Stu Barnes said. "They're a really good, hard-skating team with a talented bunch of guys. We just tried to keep it simple tonight. We played hard and focused on both ends."

Turco turned aside 19 shots, including all nine he faced in the third period.

"Limiting Nashville's opportunities was big, and we had a game plan that kept them on their heels," he said. "We showed tenacity and played hard-nosed, and we have to keep that going."