• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Ribeiro, Lehtinen help Stars end three-game slide

Nov 6, 2007 - 7:52 AM By Joel Bergman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) - Mike Ribeiro and Jere Lehtinen both had a goal and two assists as the Dallas Stars snapped a three-game losing streak with Wednesday's 5-0 shellacking of the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.

Sergei Zubov picked up three assists while Jussi Jokinen and added one goal and one assist apiece for the Stars, who scored on their first two power-play opportunities.

Marty Turco stopped 19 shots, though only eight after the first period, in recording his first shutout of the season and 31st of his career.

"Controlled aggression is imperative and we had it from the start to the finish," Turco said. "When we do that and play aggressively, it's usually going to lead to wins. It was really all about effort and execution."

With six seconds left on a power play in the first period, Ribeiro picked up the game's first goal at 19:36 on a scramble in front of Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Lehtinen took a pass from Sergei Zubov at the right point, skated into the right circle, and flicked the puck into traffic on the right side.

"The guys were passing side to side, and it opened up in front of the net," Lehtinen said. "(Zubov) shot it, and I got a piece of it. Ribeiro just came in, and the puck went in the net. We just were hammering it in front of the net. It was a hard-working goal. We needed to get the first goal."

Dallas increased its advantage to 2-0 at the tail end of their second power play.

Defenseman Matt Niskanen skated the puck through center ice and found left wing Jussi Jokkinen squeezing between Ducks defensemen Sean O'Donnell and Francois Beauchemin. Jokinen flipped the puck over Giguere's glove for the tally, with only 14 seconds remaining on Chris Pronger's interference call.

"Obviously not the type of game we wanted to see, especially after the last couple where we thought we were making strides and starting to do some good things out on the ice," Pronger said.

The Anaheim boo birds made their presence known less than four minutes later, when the Stars made it 3-0 on Brendan Morrow's rebound in front of the crease.

Lehtinen skated out of the right corner past a disorganized Ducks defense and skated to the edge of the crease. Lehtinen's wrist shot was stopped by Giguere, but Morrow was left alone in front to tap in the rebound.

With the period winding down in the middle session, Lehtinen surprised the Ducks with Dallas's fourth goal. Lehtinen was left alone in front and one-timed a pass from Ribeiro coming out from behind the net to stretch the lead to 4-0.