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Modano breaks all-time American points record as Stars top Sharks

Nov 8, 2007 - 7:40 AM By Michael Duca PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- Mike Modano stands alone at the top among American hockey players.

Modano scored two goals to become the all-time leading scorer among U.S.-born players and Marty Turco made 38 saves to lead the Dallas Stars to a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.

The Stars won their third straight and fourth in five on the road, while the Sharks fell to 1-4-0 at home.

"Two real good goals, and we needed them," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said.

At 2:19 of the first period, Modano, who entered the game one shy of Phil Housley's all-time record of 1,232 points for Americans, took a pass from defenseman Sergei Zubov along the right wing boards and wristed a shot under goaltender Evgeni Nabokov's glove from the right faceoff circle to give Dallas a 1-0 lead.

"I was a little surprised," Modano said. "I had more time than I thought I would have."

Just 2:05 later, American hockey history was made when Modano took the puck away from San Jose's Joe Pavelski at center ice, poked it past defenseman Matt Carle and skated in alone on Nabokov. The 37-year-old pushed a backhander between the netminder's pads at 4:24 for Dallas' fourth shorthanded goal of the season.

The game was stopped for several minutes as San Jose fans gave Modano a standing ovation.

"I've known (Sharks general manager Doug Wilson and coach Ron Wilson) for years", Modano said. "I've played with and against them, and it was very thoughtful on their part to do that."

The tally gave Modano, a native of Livonia, Michigan, 1,233 points in 1,253 career games. Housley, who hails from St. Paul, Minnesota, needed 1,495 contests to establish the mark.

"It has dragged me down a little bit emotionally, thinking about it every night, trying to make it happen every night," Modano said. "These two couldn't have been written up any better - first two shots, two goals. It was a relief."

Watching from the Sharks' bench was long-time friend Jeremy Roenick, who is on the verge of a milestone of his own.

"It was really special to watch," said Roenick, who is one goal shy of 500 for his career. "Particularly the way he did it with two beautiful goals. And our fans were really classy in the way they recognized it."

Turco spoke philosophically about Modano's record-setting performance.

"When you think about it, one guy stands out for what he means to American hockey," Turco said. "I think it was fitting that it was on a breakaway from the red line, with the spotlight on him, all alone."

When asked if the team had anything special planned to celebrate, Turco grinned.

"Yeah, we're going to spray-paint his house red, white and blue, and his car, and his wife," Turco joked.

The goal also gave the Stars a 2-0 lead, and they went on to extended their winning streak when owning a two-goal advantage to 34 games.

Zubov had a chance to expand the advantage when was awarded a penalty shot after Nabokov tossed his stick in an attempt to break up a power-play rush by Dallas. Zubov skated in deep and attempted to beat Nabokov to the stick side with a backhander, but the goalie easily turned away the shot.

Late in the first period, the Sharks had a 4-on-3 advantage with both Jere Lehtinen and defenseman Trevor Daley in the penalty box for the Stars.

Roenick dug the puck from behind the net and passed in the slot to Craig Rivet, who slid it to fellow blue-liner Carle in the left circle. Stars defenseman Philippe Boucher went down to block the shooting lane, but Carle skated one stride toward the slot and launched a low wrist shot as Turco was being screened by Jonathan Cheechoo to halve the deficit with 73 seconds remaining in the session.

However, the Stars cemented the game just 2:12 into the second period, when Steve Ott took a pass from tough guy Todd Fedoruk at center ice and skated in on Nabokov, sliding the puck between his pads from the top of the crease for his first of the season and a 3-1 bulge.

San Jose had a potential second goal by defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh controversially waved off when Milan Michalek was pushed into Turco as the shot sailed behind him late in the second period.

"Sandis' goal should have counted," Ron Wilson said. "Their defenseman got his stick between Milan's legs, twists him and pushes him back on the goalie. There was absolutely nothing Milan could do there."

The Sharks maintained pressure on Turco all evening, peppering the goaltender with five shots in the first 2:09 of the contest and adding nine unanswered shots in the first 10 minutes of the final session, ending the game with a total of 39.