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Modano's late goal lifts Stars over Coyotes

Feb 12, 2008 - 5:22 AM By John Tranchina PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DALLAS (Ticker) - The Dallas Stars just kept coming and eventually broke through the wall.

Trailing for most of the night, the Stars scored two goals in the final nine minutes of the contest en route to a 2-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night in the first part of a home-and-home series between the Pacific Division rivals.

Mike Modano scored the game-winner with 3:12 left in the third period and assisted on the tying goal for Dallas, which matched a franchise record with its seventh consecutive win.

"Seven just piles up, we don't look at it as seven, we take it game by game," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "One of our favorite sayings is, 'Find a way to win,' and going into the third period, that's what we were saying, 'Let's find a way to win.'

"Some of that, you need some breaks, some of those breaks you make. The seven is nice, but there's still areas that we need to improve."

Ilya Bryzgalov was outstanding in the Coyotes' net, making 42 saves but the Stars' relentless attack finally beat him for two late goals.

"You really can't get sucked into getting discouraged too bad, he's one of the better goalies, he's made that point very clear since he's been in Phoenix," Modano said of Bryzgalov's performance. "Can't let that get you down, can't get too cute and try to make a great play and, finally, the goals that went in were pretty innocent shots on net."

"I gave my team a chance to win the game, that's my job, that's what I have to do," Bryzgalov said. "I played well. I was so close to winning the game for our side. They score with three minutes left, they dominate all game long. It's kind of a tough feeling to lose the game in the last few minutes."

Steve Ott connected for his career-high ninth goal of the season at 11:45 of the third period to tie the game at 1-1. Ott took a nice pass from Jere Lehtinen and blasted a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that went off Bryzgalov's blocker and trickled over the goal line.

"We were going up against a hot goalie," Ott said. "The only way to beat him is to keep shooting and hope one gets by. We stuck with it. We played hard."

"The thing about Otter that's so good is when he's engaged in the game, the other team hates him, our team loves him," Tippett said. "The refs are looking at him like, 'What the heck is this guy's problem?' But that brings us momentum. It's engagement in the game."

It was the 41st shot that Bryzgalov had seen after stopping the first 40.

Dallas then had two power plays, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 39 seconds, late in the third period and Modano connected for his 16th of the season.

"It was close, unfortunately, we lose with two penalties, one in offensive zone when we have a power play, and one in defensive zone, a delay of game puck over the glass," Bryzgalov said. "Maybe the team was tired, that's why we (made) mistakes."

The 37-year-old Modano, who is the all-time leading scorer among American-born players, unleashed a slap shot from just inside the blue line with 3:12 remaining to push the Stars into a 2-1 lead.

"The clock's ticking, the ice conditions aren't the best for making plays, passes, so you just want to get some shots," Modano said of the late advantage. "When it's 5-on-3, it's easy in that situation.

"You just try to get it at an angle where you can get it by (the forward trying to block the shot). I love to be the guy with the puck on the stick late to determine the outcome."

Marty Turco, who returned after missing two games with a sore neck, made 19 saves and Jere Lehtinen had two assists for Dallas.

"Those games can be mentally taxing, and it's tough to keep with it, but I was glad we did and got the goals we needed to take the win," Turco said.

Phoenix opened the scoring as former Star Niko Kapanen scored his seventh tally of the season at 6:59 into the first period on a power play, firing a one-timer from the slot past Turco off a short pass from Joel Perrault.

"Joel Perrault (had the puck) in the middle and he passed to me and it was pretty much an empty-netter for me. I just tapped it in," said Kapanen, who played in Dallas from 2001-06. "Of course, it's nice. There is always a little extra thing when you score against Dallas - I spent a couple of years here - but it's just one goal, but it wasn't enough."

It was just the second power-play tally allowed by Dallas' top-ranked penalty killing unit over the last eight games.

Modano fired a wrist shot from the top of the left circle past Bryzgalov at the end of the first period, but it was ruled no goal because it came just after the final buzzer sounded.

Modano then rang a quick snap shot from the slot high off the goalpost with 5:15 left in the second period with the puck ricocheting along the goal line and out the other side.

The Coyotes, who will host the Stars on Thursday, now have lost four straight games.

"I'm obviously frustrated," Bryzgalov said. "We scored a goal really fast, I don't know if we were kind of tired or maybe Dallas did everything perfect today, I don't know. After we scored the goal, they started dominating, drove to the net, getting everything deep."