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Eriksson scores twice as Stars edge Coyotes

Nov 16, 2008 - 7:16 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Thanks to the scoring prowess of Loui Eriksson and the right leg of Marty Turco, the Dallas Stars ended a three-game slide.

Eriksson scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner late in the second period, and Turco made a huge save in the waning seconds as the Stars escaped with a 3-2 victory Saturday over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Mark Parrish also tallied and Mike Ribeiro collected three assists for the Stars, who won for just the second time in seven games (2-4-1).

"We played a better game tonight and got the win," Eriksson said. "It was huge because we really needed those two points."

Turco made 25 saves, including a brilliant right pad stop on Olli Jokinen from alone on the left side of the net with seven seconds remaining, as Dallas improved to 10-3-0 in its last 13 visits to Phoenix.

"That was a good save," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "Those are the timely saves that you need."

"Turcs made some great saves, and at the end, that was a huge save," Eriksson added.

Steven Reinprecht and Kevin Porter scored for the Coyotes, who have lost two in a row following a three-game winning streak.

"We didn't fire on all cylinders tonight," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. "We had one line and one (other) player that played really well, and we didn't have enough from everybody else. ... You can't win with four players. We have 12 forwards, not just four. We didn't get enough opportunities from the whole team."

Eriksson, who scored 14 goals in 69 games with the Stars last season, netted his seventh in 17 contests this campaign late in the first period to give Dallas a 1-0 edge. After skating down the right wing and through the faceoff circle, the 23-year-old put a backhander past goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov with 2:54 remaining.

"I don't know what happened," Bryzgalov said. "It was the short side and I was in a butterfly, and I don't know how the puck went through."

"It's always good to get the first goal and get the lead so you can play a little more comfortable with the puck," Eriksson said.

Reinprecht forged a tie just 2 1/2 minutes into the middle session with his third of the season. From the top of the right circle, defenseman Keith Yandle made a cross-slot pass to Reinprecht, who drove to the net and slid a backhander between Turco's pads.

Parrish put the Stars ahead for good during a power play at 8:13 of the period. Ribeiro dished the puck to defenseman Sergei Zubov, whose blast from the blue line was tipped past Bryzgalov by Parrish for his fourth goal in five games with Dallas.

Eriksson doubled the lead with 55 seconds to go in the session, burying the rebound of Toby Petersen's slap shot from the right circle.

"You love to see a guy get a couple of goals, and they were big goals for us," Tippett said. "But he's playing important minutes for us and playing very, very well with and without the puck."

"In our last 10 games, he has probably been our best player," Ribeiro added. "He is going to the net, creating offensive chances and getting good positioning."

The tally served as the decisive one as Porter, who was driving down the slot, had rookie Mikkel Boedker's pass from the right circle deflect off his skate and past Turco just 17 seconds later.

After video review, the goal stood, giving Porter his third tally of the season and drawing the Coyotes within 3-2.

Making his ninth consecutive start, Bryzgalov turned aside 16 shots.

"If you want to win, you have to be better," he said. "We have to get the lead and not be the ones chasing. (But) life is not over, and we have to continue to work hard."