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Barnes gives Stars win in ninth round of shootout

Jan 21, 2007 - 6:48 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Victory No. 161 was a memorable one for All-Star Marty Turco.

Turco stopped seven shots in the shootout and Stu Barnes netted the decisive goal in the ninth round as the Dallas Stars posted a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild, who lost their fourth straight home game.

Niklas Hagman scored the lone regulation goal for Dallas, which enters the All-Star break with a three-game winning streak after playing its 1,000th game since moving the franchise from Minnesota in 1993.

Barnes put a backhander over goaltender Niklas Backstrom to help Dallas improve to 5-1 in the shootout. Minnesota fell to 8-4 in the bonus format.

"You have to be ready for the chance," Barnes said. "Fortunately, I got it in there. I missed the net earlier in the year, so I didn't want to miss two in a row. I've only gone twice. It's fun to watch, but when they tap your shoulder and you have to go out there, it's a little nerve-wracking."

The Stars were without leading scorer and All-Star defenseman Philippe Boucher, centers Mike Modano, Jeff Halpern and Steve Ott, right wing Matthew Barnaby, captain Brenden Morrow and blue-liner Sergei Zubov.

"We're playing a little understaffed," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "Turco's giving us a chance in goal and we managed to grab six points this week, so that's very positive going into the break."

"We had a tough week two weeks ago, and we rebounded this week and played three good games," Barnes added. "Everybody's played well. With the injuries it's been a rough going, but guys have hung in there."

Mike Ribiero scored in the first round for Dallas, and it looked like that shot would be the winner until Minnesota defenseman Petteri Nummelin tallied in the third round to keep alive the game.

Eric Lindros shot the puck right past Backstrom to lead off the sixth round, but Mikko Koivu recovered after losing the puck and fired a backhander over a sprawled Turco to extend the game.

After Barnes tallied, Pascal Dupuis had his chance smothered. As he approached the net, he put his head down and Turco moved out of the crease and snuffed the left wing before he could attempt a shot.

"When you have an opportunity to win a game, right there hanging in the balance with the man-on-man situation, I really look forward to the challenge," Turco said. "When it goes that long, you feel a little more comfortable, but you never know what's going to happen with the next shooter. The game's on the line either way."

"In a way, I'm happy to get a point, but disappointed we didn't get two," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said.

With the win, Turco surpassed Ed Belfour as the franchise's all-time winningest goaltender.

"Certainly tonight, to be here tonight where the franchise started, to accomplish that tonight was almost too perfect," Turco said. "I'm happy with the win, with the way we played this week. Three wins in a row before the break is what I'm most proud of, but when I look back when my career is over, it is a little extra special that it was here in Minnesota."

Turco stood tall in the final three minutes of the second period as Minnesota peppered him with a flurry of shots.

Turco was working on a shutout until Koivu rammed home the rebound of a shot from the right faceoff circle by Mark Parrish with 7:55 remaining in the third.

"We got three points in back-to-back games. We have to be realistic, we can't win every game," Koivu said. "After a shootout, we were a bit disappointed, but I think overall, it was a good point for us."

Hagman scored his 11th goal of the season midway through the second period. Antti Miettinen took a feed from Jussi Jokinen in the slot and passed to Hagman, who put it over the pad of Backstrom from the right side of the net.

"Jokinen gave a nice pass to Miettinen, and Miettinen gave me a nice pass," Hagman said. "Things have been so good with our line, we had the chances and created some things. It was good to see that guys are getting their confidence back.

"We had a bit of a tough stretch, but the last three games this week, we played really good. We needed a real solid team effort if we were going to win. Marty has been good for us."

Backstrom replaced starter Manny Fernandez, who suffered a knee injury, seven minutes into the game. One night earlier, Fernandez posted a shutout against Chicago.

Backstrom finished with 22 saves.