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Miettinen, Stars use huge second period to beat Sharks

Dec 16, 2007 - 1:22 AM SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- Antti Miettinen capped a second-period barrage with the go-ahead goal as the Dallas Stars posted a 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

Marty Turco stopped 16 shots and Mike Ribeiro had a goal and an assist for Dallas, which scored three goals - two on the power play - in the second to post its third straight win.

"We competed hard and our power play got us a couple big goals," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We found a way to win."

Devin Setoguchi and Patrick Rissmiller tallied for San Jose, which has lost five straight here to Dallas.

"I thought we set the tone for the first half of the game," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "What's disappointing is we did not have enough guys willing to go to the front of the net, to skate through, take hits and not reach for pucks. We just weren't willing to pay the price."

The teams traded goals early in the second before Dallas finally went on top for good with 3:04 left in the period. Mike Modano fired a slap shot from the point that Miettinen deflected past goaltender Evgeni Nabokov for his fifth tally of the season.

Turco held the Sharks in check and Steve Ott added an empty-netter with 41 seconds left to seal the win. Turco had to make a great save on a point-blank shot by Joe Thornton during a power play midway through the third period.

"I didn't see him - it happens," Turco said. "He tried to put it right through me. He just buried it. I had no idea what was going on."

Ott, who was watching from the penalty box, appreciated Turco's game-saving stop.

"Marty Turco capped it off when I was in the box," said Ott, who was serving a hooking penalty. "He made a save on Joe Thornton. I had already put my head down because I thought it was in the net."

Ribeiro, who leads the Stars with 16 goals, tied the game at 2-2 just 24 seconds into a 5-on-3 power play. Ribeiro gathered a loose puck in the crease and stuffed it into the right side of the net with 9:16 left in the second.

"There's no one really there to check me once they're focused on Brenden (Morrow) and where the puck is," Ribeiro said.

San Jose took a 2-1 lead as Rissmiller scored on a wraparound at 5:37 of the middle session for his second of the season. The tally came just 45 seconds after Morrow tied the game at 1-1 with his 12th goal.

"I knew I had the net, and I just tried to get out front and throw it on the net," Rissmiller said. "We've been working on guys going to the net, creating havoc."

San Jose got on the scoreboard first as Setoguchi fired a backhander into the top left corner of the net from the right side at 7:54 of the first.

Nabokov stopped 18 shots for the Sharks, who had beaten the Stars three of the previous four meetings.