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Jokinen, Ribeiro help Stars edge Wild in shootout

Dec 3, 2006 - 4:25 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- Jussi Jokinen and Mike Ribeiro showed the Minnesota Wild how it's done in a shootout.

Jokinen scored the deciding goal in the bonus format and Ribeiro sealed the win for the Dallas Stars, who posted a 4-3 victory over the Wild.

Dallas scored first in the shootout when defenseman Sergei Zubov deked Niklas Backstrom and beat the goaltender to the glove side. After Mikko Koivu was denied by netminder Marty Turco, Jokinen swung wide and blasted a shot past Backstrom for a 2-0 advantage.

"We feel pretty confident in the shootout," Turco said. "For me, letting one of the two in and winning, not even seeing a third guy, it's pretty amazing. Just to get there is the most important part."

After Brian Rolston tallied for the Wild, Ribeiro skated in and moved the puck to his backhand before returning to his forehand to tuck in the puck.

The Stars improved to 7-2-0 at home against the Wild, including five straight victories.

"We needed the points badly," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We are a team that's pounding away and it's good to see us get rewarded. We still need some guys to raise their level of play."

"It's frustrating, you go out there and work your hardest and try to lay it all out there," Wild right wing Mark Parrish said. "Right now, points are tough to come by for us. Things aren't going well, and there's not much you can do. You can't dwell on it."

Jokinen tied the game at 3-3 with 4:17 left in the third period thanks to a turnover by Martin Skoula. The former Dallas defenseman lost the puck near his own net when he tried to reverse his direction, allowing Niklas Hagman to recover it and feed Jokinen, who blasted it past Backstrom.

"Great forechecking by Hags and it's just my instincts coming in when I get the puck so close," Jokinen said.

It was Jokinen's third tally his last two games.

Turco stopped 32 shots for the Stars, while Backstrom made 21 saves for the Wild.

"There was a lot of heat around the net but (Turco) helped kill seven power plays," Tippett said. "That allowed us to stay in the game."