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Lidstrom's two goals help lead Red Wings over Stars

Oct 28, 2006 - 3:12 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- The Detroit Red Wings have had trouble scoring goals during their recent slump, but their captain came up big to help end the drought.

Nicklas Lidstrom scored two goals and Pavel Datsyuk added a tally and an assist to help lift the Red Wings to a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars.

Entering with only five goals in its last four games, Detroit enjoyed its best offensive showing since a 3-1 triumph over Los Angeles on October 16.

"We were going to the net," Lidstrom said. "We came through the neutral zone with more speed and that gave us more chances out in their zone. Tonight, we were going to the net a lot harder getting shots and getting rebounds."

With the game tied, 2-2, the Red Wings scored twice in a six-minute span of the second period to take the lead for good.

Datsyuk scored on a rebound from close range to give Detroit a 3-2 edge at 2:09 before Lidstrom tallied the on a 5-on-3 power-play when his slap shot from the faceoff circle beat Dallas goaltender Marty Turco at the 8:32 mark.

"We had a lot of shots before we scored," Lidstrom said. "We tried to find openings on the side. When I got the puck, they gave me time to get a look at the net and get it past the goalie, and I did that."

Lidstrom, the reigning Norris Trophy winner, was pleased he finally scored this season.

"It feels to get rid of that zero in the stats, but more important was to get that win," Lidstrom said. "We wanted to get another strong effort and the whole team really responded."

Dallas' Mike Modano trimmed the deficit with 7:47 left in the middle period when he stood at the edge of the crease and deflected Eric Lindros' shot past Detroit goaltender Dominik Hasek.

"You have to be ready to skate with these guys or they will leave you in the dust," Modano said of the Red Wings. "Their puck play was great tonight."

Turco, whose 1.86 goal-against average was fifth-lowest in the league, stopped 29-of-33 shots for Dallas, which had given up only 15 goals in its previous nine games.

"We hadn't lost at home and it would have been nice to keep that streak intact," Turco said. "They came put flying and we sat back."

Hasek finished with 17 saves for Detroit, which went 1-for-4 on the power play.

Although Dallas went 3-for-7 with the extra skater, coach Dave Tippett was not thrilled with his club's performance.

"Don't let their (Detroit's) record fool you, these are always competitive games," Tippett said. "Our execution was poor. Detroit is close to the top in puck possession and we got schooled tonight."