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Norstrom, Stars topple Sharks

Apr 6, 2008 - 11:29 PM DALLAS (Ticker) -- Defenseman Mattias Norstrom capped a three-goal second period by scoring with 13 seconds remaining as the Dallas Stars skated to a 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday in a penalty-filled Pacific Division contest.

Antti Miettinen, Stu Barnes and Steve Ott also scored and captain Brenden Morrow had two assists for fifth-seeded Dallas (45-30-7), which will open its Western Conference quarterfinal series on the road against division rival Anaheim.

"They're the defending champs. Obviously, we're going to go in as an underdog," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "They have one of the best defensive cores anybody's seen in a long time. We have to play strong as a group."

Captain Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo scored for the Pacific champion Sharks (49-23-10), who will face the seventh-seeded Calgary Flames (42-30-10) in the conference quarterfinals.

"It doesn't matter who we are going to face, they always come out and play hard and work hard," Marleau said. "In the playoffs, the most disciplined team wins, so maybe it's good we got this out of our system."

With the game tied at 2-2 in the waning moments of the second period, Norstrom accepted a beautiful feed from Toby Petersen on the doorstep and converted it for his second goal of the season.

Ott capped the scoring with 82 seconds remaining in the third to seal the win.

The bitter rivals engaged in five fights in the first period, including one involving Ott and All-Star Joe Thornton. The teams combined for five game misconducts in the session and a total of 105 penalty minutes.

"They do hate him," goaltender Marty Turco said of the Sharks' distain for Ott. "It's not WWE stuff. A lot of it is well-deserved. But who cares as long as he agitates and plays well."

After Marleau scored the game's first goal and assisted on Cheechoo's tally that gave San Jose a 2-0 lead, Miettinen halved the deficit with the help of a brilliant individual effort by Morrow with 8:25 remaining in the second period.

Morrow skated around three defenders before feeding Mike Modano, who dropped the puck back to Miettinen for a blast that got past goaltender Brian Boucher for his 15th goal of the season.

Barnes leveled the contest with 3:47 remaining in the second, skating in from the right faceoff circle and wristing the puck by Boucher for his 12th of the campaign.

"It was a wild one, that's for sure," Barnes said. "It was a good game and you had to get a little bit rough. We are trying to work hard and elevate our game. We feel better about our game, and we are ready to go play our best hockey."

All-Star Evgeni Nabokov made seven saves in the first period before being replaced by Boucher at the start of the second. Boucher stopped 11 of 15 shots in relief.

"I didn't trust that team, they were running guys," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said of pulling Nabokov. "For all I know, Nabby was next on that list. That wasn't going to happen."

Tippett defended his team's aggressive play as the Stars prepare for the playoffs.

"We asked our players to play honest in individual preparation and team effort, and to me, that's working hard," Tippett said. "I was surprised it got as revved up as it did, but that's the way it goes."

"This game didn't mean a thing in the standings, but it meant something because we wanted to show the young guys what it's going to be like at the next level," Dallas defenseman Philippe Boucher said.