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Sharks head to Dallas in a hole

Apr 29, 2008 - 1:44 PM San Jose at Dallas 7:30 pm EDT Western Conference semifinals Stars lead, 2-0

DALLAS (Ticker) - If the San Jose Sharks want to avoid losing in the Western Conference semifinals for a third straight season, they will have to do something they have never done before.

The Sharks hope to take the first step to overcoming a two-games-to-none deficit for the first time in franchise history when they visit the Dallas Stars on Tuesday for Game Three.

After suffering an overtime loss in the series opener, San Jose was victimized by a couple of unlucky breaks and Brad Richards' breakout performance in Game Two.

A former Conn Smythe winner, who was acquired at the trade deadline, scored a goal and set up three others in the third period Sunday as the Stars took a commanding two-games-to-none lead with a 5-2 victory.

The second-seeded Sharks took a 2-1 lead into the third period, but the fifth-seeded Stars struck for a pair of quick goals early in the session.

Richards wasted little time tying the contest at 2-2, scoring his second goal of the postseason just 32 seconds into the period off a critical turnover.

"When you are an offensive guy, you like to get involved, and it brings a good feeling," Richards said. "You want to contribute. You have to stick with it and keep doing the little things as well as possible and be hopeful that everything will work out."

Pavelski, controlling the puck in the Sharks' zone, lost his footing and slipped to the ice. Richards scooped up the loose puck in the slot and fired a quick wrist shot past Nabokov.

"I went to cut back and my feet went out and I lost the puck," Pavelski said. "You can't give a good player a good lane like that and he went in and made a good shot to tie up the game."

Modano then scored the eventual game-winner on a power play after just leaving the penalty box himself. Modano went to the box for tripping at 1:22, but San Jose's power play was cut in half because defenseman Christian Ehrhoff was called for holding a minute later.

After leaving the box, Modano sprinted into the zone and received a beautiful backhanded pass from blue-liner Sergei Zubov before firing a wrist shot to the top corner of the net.

"In the third period, it's kind of difficult to say," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "Ignore the fourth and fifth goals. The tying goal - there's nothing we can do about it. A guy slips and fall, in an almost non-dangerous situation. And the other one, we got puck-focused, and Zubov made an unbelievable pass."