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Barch, Smith help Stars continue home dominance of Ducks

Feb 24, 2007 - 8:20 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- Thanks to a pair of rookies, the Anaheim Ducks were unable to force the game beyond regulation this time.

Krys Barch had a goal and an assist and Mike Smith made 24 saves as the Dallas Stars rolled to a 4-1 triumph over the Ducks, whose previous four contests lasted more than 60 minutes.

Getting the start over All-Star Marty Turco, Smith continued to stymie Anaheim, keeping the Pacific Division leaders scoreless until Corey Perry ended the shutout bid with 4:45 remaining in the third period.

"It was kind of a weird game for me," Smith said. "It just seemed like shots came in flurries. When they had the power plays there, it was pretty hard. ... They're a pretty good team with the puck. We weathered the storm and we got a good two points."

"Our goaltending has been excellent the last two games," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "It's good to have those two guys playing well. If you go back to training camp, that's what we wanted, and right now, we have that."

Smith entered without having allowed a goal against the Ducks for 79 minutes, 41 seconds this season.

"Obviously, you don't want to let any goals in, that's the goal, but the win's the most important thing," said Smith, whose shutout streak vs. Anaheim ended at 134:55. "It's a great team effort. We didn't give their skill guys any time, any space. That's what you've got to do against teams like that, against players like that."

"He's not that hot, he's been the benefactor of a few posts and acrobatic saves," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said of Smith. "We haven't put enough consistent pressure on him. He's a good goalie, but we haven't put enough pressure on him to find out how good a goalie he really is."

Smith admitted he was thinking about extending the streak and posting his fourth shutout of the season.

"It's kind of hard not to," he said. "It creeps in the back of your mind. You try to sing a song or something to get it out of there."

A gritty right wing who collected 66 penalty minutes in his first 13 games, Barch doubled his points total with his first career multi-point effort. The 26-year-old gave Dallas a 2-0 lead midway through the first with his second goal before setting up Jussi Jokinen's second-period tally for his second assist.

"I just try to get in there on the forecheck and try to be as good as I can, try to get pucks in the corner," Barch said. "I'm not going to be going end-to-end out there."

Ladislav Nagy netted his first goal as a Star and Jokinen added an assist for Dallas, which improved to 7-1-1 in its last nine home contests overall and 9-3-1 in the last 13 meetings here with Anaheim.

"We've had some games against that team where we have chased the game," Tippett said. "Tonight, I thought we dictated play. We had some good bounces on goals, but we earned those goals and those bounces. I thought everybody had some real purpose in the game."

Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 17 shots for the Ducks, who have lost three straight games and six of eight.

"That's as flat as we've been all year," Carlyle said. "This was a stinker. ... We didn't play anywhere near good enough and we didn't get near the level that we are capable of playing."

Anaheim, which saw Dallas climb to within five points of the top spot in the Pacific, was unable to explain why it played without a spark.

"I don't have an answer as to why or how, but obviously, it's unacceptable," Anaheim defenseman Chris Pronger said. "We can't come into games that are this big in our division, with them right behind us, and play the way we did."

"We just didn't compete like we need to," Ducks blue-liner Scott Niedermayer added. "It was an important game for both teams and we knew that they would come out and play their game, which they did. We didn't respond to it. It's upsetting, for sure."

Acquired from Phoenix on February 12, Nagy gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 6:57 of the first period. Carrying down the right wing, rookie Loui Eriksson avoided a hip check from Pronger and passed to Nagy, who had the puck carom off his skate and into the net for his ninth goal of the season.

"I'm happy," Nagy said. "When you score your first goal for your new team, it gets you a lot of confidence, so that's why it feels a lot better after that. It was a great pass from Loui and I didn't have to do anything. It hit (my) skate, touched the tip of my stick and went in."

Barch doubled the advantage at 10:14, tipping defenseman Philippe Boucher's slap shot from the right point past Giguere.

"Just going to the net, just keeping your stick on the ice and hoping the puck hits it," Barch said, describing his method for scoring.

Jokinen made it 3-0 with 6:13 to go in the second, when Antti Miettinen's pass from the right faceoff circle went in off his right skate.

Jere Lehtinen scored on a breakaway 40 seconds into the third, firing a wrist shot just under the crossbar for his 20th tally. The three-time Selke Trophy winner had reached the 20-goal plateau seven times in his 11-year career.

"His consistency is remarkable," Tippett said. "He's one of the easiest players I've ever coached. He does the little things well and does everything that you ask of him."