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Dumont, Ellis lift Predators past Stars

Jan 1, 2008 - 5:12 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- The Nashville Predators have had difficulty scoring goals when they visit the Lone Star State. They made their lone tally count on Monday.

J.P. Dumont scored the game's only goal and rookie Dan Ellis stopped all 22 shots he faced as the Predators earned a 1-0 victory over the Dallas Stars.

Nashville, which had scored only 19 goals in 16 previous games here, ended a seven-game losing skid in Big D and won for just the third time in that stretch against the Stars.

"I didn't know about that (streak), but it's good especially with the way they (Dallas) have been playing," Dumont said. "Tonight was a big win and proved to us what can happen when we play well defensively. We all chipped in and it was a big win for us."

Dumont recorded the lone tally with 3:18 remaining in the second period.

Jason Arnott wristed a shot which sailed wide of the goal, but Alexander Radulov corralled the carom behind the net and fed Dumont in front. Dumont beat goaltender Marty Turco from short range for his 12th goal of the season and second in as many games.

Ellis made it stand up to record his third shutout of his career.

Ellis, who was the second-round pick - 60th overall - of the Stars in 2000, stopped six shots in the first period, five in the second and 11 in the third.

"It's important to get the win for our team because we've had some struggles and stuff like that," Ellis said. "But it always has some extra meaning when you play an organization that you were with for your whole pro career.

"I loved being a Dallas Star and have the utmost respect for their organization, but tonight was an opportunity to play for the Predators. They're the ones that gave me a shot in the NHL."

Nashville coach Barry Trotz used Ellis playing against his former team to his advantage.

"I said to him that those guys didn't want him," he said. "He played a real good game and I thought we played a really good game in front of him. He made a couple of big saves when we needed them and got the job done.

"I'm really happy for Ellie. He's been a real good story for us this year."

Turco stopped 29 shots for Dallas, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.

"We just couldn't find that spark we needed tonight and basically had a lackluster performance," Turco said. "Everything was just one step off tonight. We'll learn from it and put this behind us."

Nashville's Scott Nichol had an excellent opportunity to open the scoring 6:35 into the first period.

Nichol was pulled down from behind on a breakaway, which resulted in a penalty shot - but Turco easily denied the Edmonton, Alberta native to keep the game scoreless.

"With all due respect to other teams' penalty kills, it's more about our power play," said Dallas coach Dave Tippett, whose team was 0-for-6 on the power play. "We weren't every good tonight in a lot of things and the power play was one of those things."