• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Neal, Eriksson lift Stars past Wild

Nov 27, 2008 - 4:56 AM By Anthony Maggio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- The 18,568 fans in attendance let their displeasure be known after Mikko Koivu's apparent goal at 3:53 of the third period was disallowed - the second apparent tally by the Finn which was waved off - but coach Jacques Lemaire was even more incensed after the Dallas Stars rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Minnesota Wild, 4-3, on Wednesday.

Lemaire accused Stars goaltender Marty Turco of intentionally dislodging the net seconds before Koivu's shot from the slot would have given the Wild a two-goal lead, thus turning the momentum and ultimately leading to Brad Richards' tying goal and Loui Eriksson's game-winner with seven minutes left in the game.

James Neal had his first career two-goal game and Ericksson his first career three-point game in the victory, which snapped Dallas' three-game losing streak and dropped Minnesota to 1-3-0 on its five-game homestand.

"It's the third time that Turco does that, just against us," Lemaire said. "He goes like he's going to stumble and he just lays on the post. That's what he does. It's a trick, but now they'll know."

Koivu declined to comment on the situation and Turco denied Lemaire's charge, saying he was off-balance when he fell back into the crossbar.

"I'm impressed he's been paying attention to what I've been doing historically," Turco said. "I have knocked it off before when I got bumped into it to make sure it's off, but in this case, I had no clue.

"You saw me afterward diving around like an idiot. I would prefer not to do that at risk of getting a puck in the throat or in the backside if I knew the net was off."

Turco turned aside 25 shots to win for just the second time in his last eight starts while the Stars improved to 14-3-1 against Minnesota since the start of the 2003-04 season. Niklas Backstrom stopped 26 of 30 shots for the Wild.

Eric Belanger, Owen Nolan and Andrew Brunette all scored for Minnesota, but it was the two non-goals by Koivu which were waved off that drew the most attention as the Wild continued to struggle at home after starting the season 5-0-1 at Xcel Energy Center.

Koivu's first disallowed goal came in the second period with Minnesota on the power play and holding a 3-1 lead. The shot ricocheted off the crossbar and left post but was called a goal - only to be overturned following a lengthy replay.

"It was one thing after the other," Lemaire said. "Takes 10 minutes to decide that a goal's not in, which we knew a long time before that, that it wasn't in. We had the momentum. ... When you have the momentum, you don't want to go for coffee."

Instead, Neal got Dallas back within one at 17:40 of the second period with a strong individual effort. His shot while streaking up the right side hit Backstrom square-on, but it fluttered into the air. Before it could land safely in Backstrom's glove, Neal fought off Bergeron's check and knocked the puck in out of the air to make it a 3-2 game.

Playing without captain Brenden Morrow, Jere Lehtinen and Joel Lundqvist due to injuries, Neal's two goals were certainly welcomed.

"It feels great, especially with the win," Neal said. "It couldn't have come on a better night."

Minnesota appeared to recapture the momentum when Koivu easily buried his third-period chance from the slot with Turco sprawled on the ice to the left of the crease after chasing the play, but the goal was immediately disallowed and Dallas was revived once again.

"We got rewarded tonight for a little bit of the hard work," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "Hopefully we get some bounces - we've had a lot go the other way this year and maybe this was a tide turner."

Richards scored on a one-timer less than five minutes later to tie the game, and Eriksson's deflection from the slot of Stephane Robidas' blast from the blue line finished the comeback.

The defeat marked Minnesota's first loss when leading after two periods this season (7-1-1).

"It should be discretionary if it's close - the ref should have the option to say that it wouldn't have mattered in the play," Turco said. "But that's not the rule and I did not knock it off on purpose. They probably deserved a better fate tonight, but I don't (care)."