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Modano lifts Stars past Blues

Dec 30, 2007 - 6:17 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- Mike Modano had a goal in regulation and the lone tally in the third round of the shootout as the Dallas Stars defeated the St. Louis Blues, 5-4, on Saturday.

In the bonus format, Modano skated in on Hannu Toivonen and snapped it past the Finnish goaltender for the decisive tally.

"In a shootout, sometimes it's nice to go late and get a feel for what the goalie is doing," Modano said. "I just wanted to get (the shot) off quick and get it off low between his legs."

"It was a good shot," Toivonen said. "All the credit to him, but I think I could have made the save."

The Blues had a chance to match, but Lee Stempniak's attempt hit the post, preserving the victory for the Stars.

St. Louis' Paul Kariya scored all three of his goals in the third period, including the last one with 10 seconds remaining in regulation.

Stationed in the right faceoff circle, the 33-year-old wristed a shot which deflected off the stick of a Dallas defenseman and past goaltender Mike Smith to tie the game at 4-4.

"Kariya had a heck of a third period," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "He's a top player doing what top players are supposed to do. He took control of the game."

When Smith saw Kariya skating toward him during the shootout, the goalie came out to cut down the angle. He said one thing was on his mind: Revenge.

"He beat me in the game high glove, so I thought he might try that again," Smith said. "It didn't feel like (the puck) went in my glove right away, but when I looked back, there it was."

"I should have gone five-hole a little earlier, hesitated a little and he read me," Kariya said. "He made a nice save."

Prior to Kariya's last goal, Mike Ribeiro's career-high 21st goal looked to be the game winner.

With the game tied at 3-3, Brenden Morrow found Ribeiro on the doorstep and wristed a pass in his direction. Ribeiro settled the puck in his skates and quickly shifted it to his stick before depositing it past an out-of-position Toivonen with 5:01 remaining.

Kariya had tied the game up with a pair of goals five minutes apart to level the game at 3-3.

"I wasn't playing that well, especially the last four or five games, and it was nice to help the team get a point," Kariya said. "Obviously we're disappointed we're not getting two, but we hung in the game and battled through some adversity."

Tippett was relieved to escape with Dallas' fourth consecutive victory and eighth in nine games despite being outshot, 16-11, in the third period and overtime.

"We'll have to play much better than that," Tippett said. "It was too loose for the kind of game we need to be successful."

Blues coach Andy Murray took solace that his team pushed the game into overtime.

"We've played two of the so-called top teams in the league the last two nights in tough circumstances, and we've battled hard and done a lot of things right," Murray said.

Dallas didn't have a shot on goal during the first eight minutes, but struck twice in a 47-second span to earn a 2-0 lead.

Seven seconds after St. Louis killed a penalty, Niklas Hagman scored his 14th goal this season. Jussi Jokinen gained possession of the puck, skated behind the net and fed Hagman in front of Toivonen. Hagman made no mistake and gave the Stars a 1-0 lead.

Stu Barnes doubled Dallas' advantage shortly thereafter.

Barnes fired the puck from the left corner, off the skate of a St. Louis defender and into the goal with just over nine minutes expired.

Four minutes later, David Perron halved the deficit for St. Louis.

Keith Tkachuk fed Perron in the left faceoff circle, and the rookie wristed a shot past Smith for his seventh goal of the season.