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Ribeiro too much for Islanders

Oct 24, 2008 - 4:11 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Mike Ribeiro lent more than a helping hand as the Dallas Stars put the memory of an ugly loss behind them.

Ribeiro recorded four assists as part of a career-high five-point performance and Loui Eriksson scored twice as the Stars concluded a three-game road trip with a 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Captain Brenden Morrow added a goal and two assists while Krys Barch also scored for Dallas, which rebounded impressively from a 5-0 loss at New Jersey a day earlier.

"We got off to a good start tonight," Ribeiro said. "We were more physical and our special teams were great."

Marty Turco, who was pulled in Wednesday's loss, made 24 saves for the Stars. He was helped by a pair of shots that hit the goalpost in the second period.

"I think the big key as to why we were better tonight than we were last night was that Marty made some big saves early in the game," Morrow said. "They came out with some pressure and he made some key saves early, and that gave us confidence."

Captain Bill Guerin, defenseman Mark Streit and Jon Sim tallied for the Islanders, who have lost three of four. Streit also notched two assists.

Dallas, which opened its trek with a 2-1 win over the New York Rangers on Monday, coasted in this one at the expense of Rick DiPietro, who stopped just 24 of 29 shots. The franchise goaltender made just his second start of the season and first at Nassau Coliseum after sitting out the first four contests with a knee injury.

"I'd be picky if I was saying it was his fault," Islanders coach Scott Gordon said of DiPietro.

Ribeiro notched three of his assists in the first period, two on perfectly placed passes. He added another, as well as his first goal of the season, in the middle period.

The four assists were one short of the club record, which was reached three times, most recently by Brad Richards on February 28 against Chicago. Ribeiro had notched four points on four previous occasions.

"I created a few chances (early in the season). I was playing one good game and then two bad ones," Ribeiro said. "(My line wasn't) doing much in the beginning. Tonight, I think we worked well together. Earlier, I think I was overdoing it, trying to do too much."

Islanders defenseman Chris Campoli made his season debut after spending time on injured reserve with a shoulder injury suffered during a preseason game. New York, however, may have lost another blue-liner as Brendan Witt left in the first period with what the team termed a "lower body" injury.

Stars agitator Sean Avery goaded Islanders rookie Kyle Okposo into a roughing penalty two minutes into the game, and Dallas capitalized on the ensuing power play as Ribeiro slapped a pass from the top of the right faceoff circle to Eriksson, who redirected the puck past DiPietro from the doorstep at 3:30 for a 1-0 lead.

Later in the first, Turco stopped Richard Park on a partial breakaway, and the Stars scored less than minute afterward. Ribeiro skated down the right wing and put a cross-ice pass on the stick of Morrow, who recorded his third goal of the season with 5:47 remaining.

Just over four minutes later, Ribeiro intercepted a pass and fed Eriksson for his second of the night, giving the Stars a 3-0 lead.

"I played with (Ribeiro and Morrow) a little bit last year and we played really good," Eriksson said. "It was good to score two goals."

Turco got some help early in the second, when a pair of shots hit the right post seconds apart with the Islanders on a two-man advantage. After Trent Hunter's blast struck iron, Doug Weight's shot off the rebound deflected off Turco's stick before again hitting the post.

The Stars also dodged a few bullets as the puck was cleared away from the goal line on several occasions.

"It could have been different if we had scored on our 5-on-3," Guerin said. "Those were two pucks laying right on the line."

Guerin finally broke through at 10:16 with his second goal of the season, but the Stars quickly regained their three-goal cushion when Barch redirected a shot from Morrow past DiPietro less than three minutes later.

Ribeiro made it 5-1 with 93 seconds to go in the period, converting a cross-slot pass from Mike Modano during a power play.

Streit scored a man-advantage goal 3:28 into the third and set up Sim's tally with three seconds left in the game.