from Dallas Stars

Two critical turnovers turned the tide for an out-of-synch Stars team that is having a hard time finding any kind of stability early on.

Six different players scored for St. Louis, and the Blues erupted for three second-period goals to help send them to a convincing 6-1 win over Dallas at Scottrade Center on Thursday night.

Krys Barch scored the Stars’ lone goal, and Marty Turco suffered through another shaky outing for Dallas, which dropped to 1-2-1 on the young season. Turco surrendered five goals on 18 shots before mercifully being pulled at the start of the third period.

But it was a pair of first-period giveaways that set the tone for a dismal night for the Stars. Mike Ribeiro and Stephane Robidas committed consecutive blunders that the Blues gladly capitalized on to grab a 2-0 lead with five minutes to go in the opening stanza. They never looked back.

“There’s lots to say, and I had lots to say in there,” Stars coach Dave Tippett said. “The goalie has to be one of our top players, but that doesn’t take the other 19 off the hook.”

Buoyed by the game-opening gifts, St. Louis carried the momentum into the second period against a suddenly snakebit Turco, scoring three times on just nine shots to put the game away. It was the second straight night in which Turco was out of whack in the second stanza. Over the past two games, he’s now allowed six goals on 17 shots for a paltry .647 save percentage during the middle 20 minutes.

Tobias Stephan allowed one goal on five shots over the final 20 minutes of his second-ever NHL appearance.

“It’s a little bit of everything and it’s certainly not a good thing to have played like I have,” Turco said. “The reality is I need to get back to doing whatever I can to help this team win. I need to be there for the guys in front of me.”

Despite Turco’s crease woes, the Stars still looked flat-footed for most of the game, and once again played too loose defensively against a Blues team that came in with the top power-play unit in the league.

Through the first four games of the year, the Stars have now given up an average of well over four goals. For a team that has historically been one of the stingiest defensive units in the league, the opposition net-popping is popping many eyes.

“Our goaltending has been poor, and if you don’t work your skill doesn’t mean a thing,” Tippett said. “We better get our act together and quick.”

Coupling the lax defensive effort with an offense that failed to generate any consistent threat against Blues goalie Manny Legace, the blowout wasn’t a total surprise.

“We were undisciplined, took bad penalties, and our passion wasn’t there,” captain Brenden Morrow said. “This was just a bad showing. Two games in a row with some bad penalties — some of those are my fault — and they made us pay.”

The Blues, meanwhile, were the epitome of balanced scoring. Of the six different players that scored, three were forwards and three were blueliners. They also scored on two of their four power-play opportunities, and are clicking at an amazing 50 percent conversion rate to start the year.

Keith Tkachuk, Jay McKee, Yan Stastny, Brad Boyes, Steve Wagner and Eric Brewer tallied, while Legace made 29 saves for 3-1 St. Louis, which couldn’t have gotten its season-high seven-game homestand off to a better start.

The Blues started to pull away in the second, as Stastny scored the first of three middle-frame goals to make it 3-1 just three minutes in. Turco stopped Dwayne King’s initial shot from the outer edge of the left circle, but Stastny corralled the bouncing puck at the side of the net and put it past a sliding Turco.

Boyes upped the advantage to 4-1 with his fourth of the year with seven minutes left. With the deadly Blues power play enjoying a two-man advantage, Boyes ripped a slap shot from the top of the left circle that eluded Turco between the legs.

The rout was officially on four minutes later when Wagner scored St. Louis’ third unassisted goal of the night, ripping a shot past a partially screened Turco.

Tkachuk opened the scoring with his fifth of the year 12:47 into the game. The burly forward picked-off Ribeiro’s short pass along the left boards at the Dallas blueline, chipped the puck past Morrow, and outskated Trevor Daley to go in on Turco. Tkachuk then quickly wristed a shot through Turco’s pads to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.

McKee made it 2-0 over two minutes later, potting his first of the year from the left point after Robidas made an errant pass around the boards a second before Tkachuk plowed him over.

But the Stars cut the deficit to 2-1 just 85 seconds later thanks to some hard work along the right boards by Barch and Joel Lundqvist. The two were able to push the puck back to Matt Niskanen at the right point before Niskanen sent a cross-ice pass to Daley. Barch moved to the front of the net, and deftly deflected Daley’s drive past Legace.

Brewer capped the scoring on the power play with his first at 12:49 of the third period, with his slap shot from the right point beating Stephan on the stick side.

“I care deeply about this team and we are trying to straighten this out,” Turco said. “I need to worry about stopping pucks, and it’s imperative to have good goaltending if you are going to win in this league. I know what I need to do.”

The Stars now return to Dallas and will host the Colorado Avalanche in a Saturday matinee game at American Airlines Center (1:00, my27). The Avalanche handily defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 on Thursday night in Denver.

STARGAZING

–Forward Jere Lehtinen missed his fourth straight game to start the year because of a nagging groin injury, but is getting closer to returning to the lineup. He practiced on Wednesday, and may be available to go on Saturday against Colorado.

–Forward Steve Ott and defenseman Doug Janik were the other Stars scratches. Ott did not make the trip because of an injury.

–Turco came in with a sparkling 1.88 lifetime goals-against average against the Blues.

–Dallas went 0-for-3 on the power-play, and has now converted on just 2-of-21 man-advantage opportunities.

–The Stars were 3-1 against the Blues last year.

–Daley has points in three of the first four games.

Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, the No. 4 pick in this year’s NHL draft, had two assists for the Blues. Pietrangelo is one of several players auditioning to take former top overall pick Erik Johnson’s spot in the lineup.

The Blues announced before the game that Johnson tore two ligaments in his right knee while driving a golf cart during a team outing and would likely miss the entire season.

Loui Eriksson and Sean Avery scored for Dallas, which played its preseason opener.

Blues starting goalie Manny Legace played the first 30 minutes, 25 seconds and made six saves on seven shots. St. Louis improved its preseason record to 1-1.

Stempniak gave the Blues a 2-1 lead, scoring during a power play with 2:23 left in the first period. Boyes, who led St. Louis with 43 goals last season, made it 3-1 at 2:17 of the second with another man-advantage goal.

Avery scored off a scrum in front with 3:59 left to cut it to 3-2.

Thursday, Barnes officially announced his retirement as a player in the National Hockey League and signed a two-year deal to join the Dallas Stars staff as an assistant coach.

Barnes Video Tribute: 700K  Stu Barnes - XM Radio

“I was truly fortunate to play as long as I did, and I knew this was the time for me to wrap up my playing days,” Barnes said. “A great opportunity to become an assistant coach was presented to me by the Stars, and I look forward to making that transition and learning a new part of the game.”

For the Stars’ hockey staff and coaches, the move is a welcome addition with the departure of popular Assistant Coach Ulf Dahlen, who returned to his native Sweden for a plumb head coaching opportunity.

“We congratulate Stu on an outstanding playing career and we are very excited that he will now join our coaching staff,” said Co-General Manager Les Jackson. “Stu was a consummate professional on and off the ice throughout his career, and was the type of player who always exhibited the qualities you would associate with a future coach. Stu will be an excellent addition to our staff, which we feel is among the best in the league.”

The modest Barnes never saw himself as a “player-coach,” but the effort he brought to every game and every practice spoke volumes to his teammates.

“I’m not sure if I ever had coaching qualities as a player. I just feel like you are who you are,” Barnes said. “I went out and played the best I could every night, and tried to learn all the time, in every situation. I was pretty fortunate to play as long as I did and learn from all the great people, and I look forward to passing some of that along in this new role.”

Barnes has been preparing for a move like this in recent years. He knew his playing days were probably coming to an end soon but he knew that he wanted to keep hockey in his life. Barnes’ family really loves living here in the Dallas area, so when the opportunity presented itself to become an assistant coach with the Stars, he recognized it would be a good fit.

“I’ve definitely thought for a while now that I wanted to stay in the game in some way once I retired,” he said. “I had some conversations that something like this might be a possibility once last season ended and I took some time this summer to mull it over. The Stars organization is a class act all the way and I have the utmost respect for Dave Tippett, Rick Wilson and Mark Lamb, so I’ll be really fortunate to learn the ropes from them.”

Barnes was a natural leader in the dressing room, especially for the younger players on the team. He was always a good sounding board and would spend time with them daily as they learned the rigors of playing an 82-game schedule in the NHL. The Stars expect that to continue in his new role, and Barnes looks forward to the experience.

“Anytime you are an older player, you try and go out of your way to help the younger guy,” he said. “I already have a relationship with the younger guys in the room and that’ll certainly help going forward. There will definitely be some challenges, but this is a great group of guys and a super bunch of players, so I will help out wherever I can to help our team win.”

Barnes, 37, collected 597 career NHL points (261 goals, 336 assists) in 1,136 NHL games with the Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres and Dallas Stars. He also skated in 116 career Stanley Cup Playoff games over 12 postseasons, notching 30 goals and 32 assists for 62 points and reaching the Cup Final twice (Buffalo, 1999; Florida, 1996).

The 5-11, 182-pound center was acquired via trade by Dallas on March 10, 2003, in exchange for Mike Ryan and a second-round draft pick, and in 329 total games with the Stars, recorded 120 points (53 goals and 67 assists). He added 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 38 Stanley Cup Playoff games with Dallas.
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Click Here To Download A PDF Version Of The 2008-09 Schedule

The Stars are scheduled to play 82 games during the 2008-09 campaign, with 41 contests at home and 41 on the road. The home schedule features 20 weekend contests (six Friday, 10 Saturday, four Sunday). The Stars will host four Saturday matinees: Oct. 18 vs. Colorado (2 p.m.), Jan. 17 vs. Los Angeles (2 p.m.), Feb. 21 vs. Chicago (2 p.m.) and Feb. 28 vs. Anaheim (2 p.m.). The Stars also host four Sunday afternoon games: Nov. 30 vs. Edmonton (5 p.m.); Feb. 8 vs. Nashville (5:00 p.m.); Mar. 1 vs. Pittsburgh (2 p.m.) and Mar. 8 vs. Montreal (5 p.m.). The busiest home week night for the Stars is Thursday (nine times). Most evening games at American Airlines Center will begin at 7:30 p.m.

The NHL schedule remains heavily structured around conference play, especially against the team’s respective division. Dallas plays in the NHL’s Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and will play 24 divisional games against rivals Anaheim, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Jose (a total of six times each — three home, three away).

The Stars will play a total of 40 games against non-division Western Conference foes in the Central Division (Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Nashville and St. Louis) and the Northwest Division (Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Minnesota and Vancouver), with four games against each opponent (twice at home, twice on the road).

Dallas will play a total of 18 games against Eastern Conference opponents, skating against all 15 Eastern teams once and facing off against three Eastern clubs (Florida, New Jersey, New York Rangers) both home and away. The eight Eastern Conference teams that the Stars will host are: Carolina, Washington, New Jersey, Buffalo, Atlanta, NY Rangers, Pittsburgh and Florida.

The Stars’ longest home stand this season will be a six-game stretch from Feb. 19 to Mar. 1 (Edmonton, Chicago, San Jose, St. Louis, Anaheim, Pittsburgh). The club also has a four-game home stand from Feb. 6-13 (NY Rangers, Nashville, Phoenix, Vancouver). Dallas’ longest road trip is a five-game road swing from Oct. 31 to Nov. 11 (Chicago, Boston, Anaheim, San Jose, Los Angeles).

Notable games at American Airlines Center include: home opener versus the Columbus Blue Jackets (Oct. 10); Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals (Oct. 25); two games during the Thanksgiving week (Nov. 28 vs. San Jose and Nov. 30 vs. Edmonton); two games against the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings (Dec. 12 and Jan. 12); the New York Rangers (Feb. 6); Sidney Crosby and the defending Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins (Mar. 1); Guy Carbonneau’s Montreal Canadiens (Mar. and New Year’s Eve vs. the New Jersey Devils (the 11th consecutive season for the Stars to play at home on Dec. 31).

Dallas Stars Season Seats are on sale now. Full and split season plans are available, as well as 6- and 12-game packages that allow fans to choose the games they want to go to. Individual game tickets for October and November games go on sale to the public on September 20, but fans can pick the games they want before the public by purchasing 6- or 12-game plans today. Fans can call 214-GO-STARS for more information or click here.

STARS SCHEDULE NOTES

Home Games by Day: Mon. – 3, Tues. – 4, Wed. – 5, Thurs. – 9, Fri. – 6, Sat. – 10, Sun – 4
Road Games by Day: Mon. – 5, Tues. – 8, Wed. – 5, Thurs. – 7, Fri. – 4, Sat. – 11, Sun – 1

Home Games by Month: Oct. – 5, Nov. – 5, Dec. – 8, Jan. – 4, Feb. – 10, Mar. – 7, Apr. - 2
Road Games by Month: Oct. – 6, Nov. – 7, Dec. – 5, Jan. – 8, Feb. – 3, Mar. – 9, Apr. – 3 

Games by Conference/Division:
Western Conference (64) - Pacific Division (24)   Northwest Division (20) Central Division (20)
Eastern Conference (18) - Southeast Division (6)  Atlantic Division (7)   Northeast Division (5)

Opponents’ Visits to Dallas (41): Atlanta-1, Anaheim-3, Boston-0, Buffalo-1, Calgary-2, Carolina-1, Chicago-2, Colorado-2, Columbus-2, Detroit-2, Edmonton-2, Florida-1, Los Angeles-3, Minnesota-2, Montreal-1, Nashville-2, New Jersey-1, NY Islanders-0, NY Rangers-1, Ottawa-0, Philadelphia-0,
Phoenix-3, Pittsburgh-1, St. Louis-2, San Jose-3, Tampa Bay-0, Toronto-0, Vancouver-2, Washington-1.

Stars’ Visits to Road Cities (41): Atlanta-0, Anaheim-3, Boston-1, Buffalo-0, Calgary-2, Carolina-0, Chicago-2, Colorado-2, Columbus-2, Detroit-2, Edmonton-2, Florida-1, Los Angeles-3, Minnesota-2, Montreal-0, Nashville-2, New Jersey-1, NY Islanders-1, NY Rangers-1, Ottawa-1, Philadelphia-1,
Phoenix-3, Pittsburgh-0, St. Louis-2, San Jose-3, Tampa Bay-1, Toronto-1, Vancouver-2, Washington-0.

1st Half/2nd Half: The Stars will play 22 of their first 41 games on the road, while finishing the second half with 22 of the final 41 games at home.

Home For February: The Stars will play 10 of their 13 games during the month of February at American Airlines Center.

Back-to-Back Series:
Overall:                                                                           15
Back-to-back at home:                                                 1   
Back-to-back on road:                                                  9   
Home game followed by road game next day:       4
Road game followed by home game next day:      1      

Dallas Stars Staff

Jul 2, 2008, 1:59 PM EDT

Sean Avery is a Dallas Star. The Stars have signed the free agent left wing to a four-year contract that will pay him a total of $15.5 million ($3.5 million next season, and $4 million in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12).

“We are excited about the opportunity to add a player like Sean Avery to our group,” said Stars Co-General Manager Brett Hull. “His ability to play the game with skill and tenacity makes us a better team and is a great complement to the players we have here.”

Brett Hull Press Conference
 Sean Avery Conference Call (7.2.08) 
 Hull and Jackson Conference Call (7.02.08)

In 86 games with New York over the last two seasons, the Rangers went 50-20-16 with Avery in the lineup for a winning percentage of .674 (and 9-13-3 record when he was not on the ice).

“His skill keeps improving every year,” said Hull. “He is feisty and tenacious. Sean has the ability to score and make plays and he is fearless. I think he’s a very good compliment to Brenden Morrow. We like our team, but the thing I think we were lacking was a little bit of sandpaper and some grit, and we also improved our skill level with Sean.

“He made the Rangers a much better team. In talking to some of the guys on that team, they are very sorry to see him go. He’s a great teammate – he’ll do anything for the team, he’ll do anything to win.”
 
Avery, who turned 28 in April, collected 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists) in 57 games with the New York Rangers last season, and placed second on the club with 154 penalty minutes and tied for third with four game-winning goals. In eight Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Rangers this past spring, Avery recorded four goals and three assists for seven points with six penalty minutes.
 
A native of Pickering, Ontario, Avery has skated in 379 career NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers, collecting 65 goals and 102 assists for 167 points with 1,067 penalty minutes. He has appeared in 18 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, all with the Rangers, earning 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) and 33 PIM.
 
Avery’s most productive NHL season came in 2006-07, split between Los Angeles and the Rangers, when he posted career-highs in goals (18), assists (30), points (48), shots on goal (249), average time on ice (17:11) and games played (84). He also led the Rangers and placed fifth in the league with 174 minutes during that campaign.
 
The 5-10, 195-pound left wing was undrafted, but made his NHL debut with Detroit on Dec. 19, 2001 vs. Vancouver, and scored his first NHL goal (a game-winner) on Mar. 2, 2002 vs. Pittsburgh. During the 2003-04 season with Los Angeles, he led the NHL and set a career-high with 261 penalty minutes. He appeared in 221 Ontario Hockey League games with Owen Sound and Kingston, registering 87 goals and 166 assists for 253 points, along with 564 penalty minutes.

source: dallasstars.com

Loui Eriksson

“We are very pleased to sign Loui Eriksson to this new contract,” said Stars Co-General Manager Les Jackson. “Loui really started to show some flashes of his potential last season and he seems to be growing into the player we think he can be. We expect Loui’s development and production to continue next season and beyond.”
 
Eriksson, 22, skated in 69 games with the Stars last season, collecting 14 goals and 17 assists for 31 points, all career-highs. He added four goals and four assists for eight points in 18 Stanley Cup Playoff games with Dallas this past spring, ranking tied for third on the club in goals and tied for sixth in points. In 128 career NHL games, Eriksson has posted 50 points (20 goals, 30 assists) and 46 penalty minutes.
 
The 6-1, 183-pound left wing was originally selected by Dallas in the second round (No. 33 overall) of the 2003 Entry Draft and earned Rookie of the Year honors for the American Hockey League’s Iowa Stars in 2005-06. He also was named AHL Rookie of the Month for March 2006.
 
A native of Goteborg, Sweden, Eriksson became just the third player in Dallas Stars history to score a goal in his NHL debut, Oct. 4, 2006 at Colorado. He skated for Team Sweden at the 2004 World Junior Championships and the 2003 World Under-18 Championships.
 

dallasstars.com

DALLAS – Dallas Stars Chairman of the Board and Owner Thomas O. Hicks announced today that he has signed Brett Hull and Les Jackson each to three-year contracts as Co-General Managers for the hockey club through the 2010-11 season. Hull and Jackson were named as Interim Co-General Managers on November 13, 2007.

  “Brett and Les have earned these extensions, doing an excellent job in leading this hockey club this past season,” said Hicks. “The move to make them interim co-general managers was a different approach that proved to be strategic. The two compliment each other very well. Les has over 20 years of experience with this organization as a scout and an executive and he is the consummate hockey man. He is highly regarded and respected throughout the league. Brett had 19 years of success as a player in the NHL and is a solid link between the front office and locker room. He thinks outside the box and provides a different perspective for our management staff.

“This unique combination of talents gives us many advantages for our hockey club. Signing Les and Brett to these contracts provides stability for the future. We look forward to building on this year’s relative successes.”

The Stars accumulated a 38-23-4 regular season record with Hull and Jackson as co-GM’s. The club advanced to the Western Conference Finals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2000. Two of the more notable moves by Hull and Jackson include signing center Mike Ribeiro to a five-year contract on January 7, and acquiring center Brad Richards from Tampa Bay along with goaltender Johan Holmqvist on February 26.

Maybe it’s because all we can do with the Pittsburgh Penguins these days is split hairs, but Evgeni Malkin officially is under the microscope after another average performance Thursday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Malkin hasn’t scored a goal since registering two on four shots in Game 1 against the Philadelphia Flyers. He has seven shots on goal since, has been credited with eight giveaways – including four in Game 4 – and has won only 35 percent of his faceoffs.

Penguins coach Michel Therrien, though, is hardly concerned. He said on a conference call Friday that the MVP candidate simply has to be better in Game 5 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, RDS) at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.

“Yeah, he hasn’t been productive like he was in the past, but he’s going to have to find a way next game to make sure he’s productive like he used to be,” Therrien said. “I think they did a good job about checking him. It’s not sometimes a matter of the players not being productive. Sometimes you’ve got to give credit to the other team. They’re doing a good job right now to contain him. It’s going to be up to Evgeni Malkin to make sure he’s going to be productive offensively.”

Therrien discounted the notion that perhaps Malkin is tired because he never has played this much hockey in a season. Malkin has played in all 95 games this season after playing in 83 of 87 games a year ago.

The most games Malkin played in any one season prior to coming to the NHL was 69 with his Russian club team and international tournaments in 2004-05. That included six games in the World Junior Championships and nine games in the World Championships.

Malkin looked tired at the end of last season – he had four assists and was a minus-1 in five playoff games against Ottawa – but that had something to do with his tumultuous summer of fleeing Russia to come to the NHL.

“I think he’s got more experience this year to play through the schedule that we’re facing in the NHL, plus the playoffs,” Therrien said. “I could understand fatigue would be a factor if we would have played seven games in every round. I think we had some quality time for rest … so I don’t think fatigue is a factor.”

As Malkin goes, apparently, so do his linemates.

Outside of Ryan Malone’s insurance goal 9:58 into the third period of Game 3, he and Petr Sykora have been quiet. Sykora, in fact, has one goal in the last five games after scoring four in the first five of the postseason.

“At times, this is going to be like this,” Therrien said. “You can’t expect your top two lines to give you one or two goals a game because you’re not going to score four, five, six goals a game in the playoffs all the time.

“They did a good job to contain (Malkin’s) line in the last few games, and it’s going to be a challenge for them to make sure they’re going to be able to get some results because this is what they’re supposed to do, bring some offense to the team.

“In the meantime, I’m not losing any faith in that line. They’ve been really good so far in the big picture.”

Therrien mentioned the big picture more than once during Friday’s call. He believes it’s essential to focus on that at this point rather than the Penguins’ loss in Game 4 that only forced a Game 5.

The Penguins are 11-2 in the playoffs. They hold a 3-1 lead in this series.

They’ve been pretty darn good.

“You’ve got to look at the big pictures every single round, and after four games, we’re optimistic,” Therrien said. “It’s demanding to win games in the playoffs on the road. We all know that. We were capable to have a split in Philly. It was a good accomplishment for our team to win Game 3 there.”

Therrien then suggested, the way Maxime Talbot did Thursday night, that the Penguins are bringing momentum into Game 5 because of how they played the last 40 minutes of Game 4.

The Penguins held the Flyers to 17 shots on goal in the final 40 minutes after surrendering 17 in the first 20. They had 25 shots themselves in the final two periods and gave the Flyers only one power play as opposed to three in the first period.

Jordan Staal scored twice in the third period to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 5:49 to play. The Flyers eventually salted the game away thanks to Joffrey Lupul’s empty-netter with 33 seconds left.

“I liked the way we responded,” Therrien said. “I think we had the momentum on our side. We could have made a comeback. We were really close. So we’re going to make sure we’re going to bring that momentum to the game at home Sunday.”

On the flip side, the Flyers also believe a win in Game 4 gave them momentum for the first time in the series. And with defensemen Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn possibly returning to the lineup Sunday, the Flyers not only may get an infusion of talent, but of energy, too, by having their top two defensemen back on the blue line.

“Kimmo is one of the best puck-moving defensemen in the League,” Flyers goalie Martin Biron said. “He’s even better when you don’t notice him because he does the little things right all the time. He makes guys think twice. It’s no secret he’s an All-Star.

“We want him in the locker room healthy and ready to go if he can.”

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, just wants Malkin to be Malkin, and all will be right again.

Usually when a goaltender is deemed to have been directly responsible for a win, it’s because of his ability to stop the puck and keep the opposition off the scoresheet, and Turco did that in Game 5, turning aside an unbelievable 38 Detroit shots. 

But he was equally as impressive offensively, generating the plays that led to both Stars goals in the 2-1 triumph. Even though Turco earned an assist on just the second one, a beautiful wrist shot from Joel Lundqvist in the second period for the game-winner, he confounded the Wings all night with his ability to move the puck and jump-start the Stars’ transition out of their defensive zone.

For his efforts, Turco won his first-ever NHL game in Joe Louis Arena, improving his career mark here to 1-9-2 and being named the game’s first star for the second straight contest. Turco came through with his best with the Stars facing elimination for the second consecutive time.

“It feels good,” he said of the milestone triumph. “Feels more good about the situation we were in, the environment we’re in, the ability we had to overcome it. It’s a huge challenge that only fractionally got better tonight the way we’re looking at it. But if we were able to do this, we thought we needed at least one here, now we’re going to need at least two. For me, it has been a long time. We’re excited to go back home and continue to push this thing along.”

“Marty had a will to win today,” Stars coach Dave Tippett said. “He’s had his frustrations in this building but he got over the hump with a good effort today.

“I thought there was so much battle in him. Our team, one of our themes all year is find a way to win and have the will to win. I think Marty exemplified that tonight. He wasn’t going to be denied in this game. He made enough saves in this game for us to get us the win.”

For the Stars to have a chance at pulling off the monumental comeback that only two other clubs in NHL history (and three in all of professional sports) have done, they will continue to need Turco to play this well again.

“First one here, huge,” center Mike Ribeiro said of Turco’s winning performance. “(Almost) 40 shots, kept us in the game all through the game. He was ready for it. The thing is, going back home again, we need him to do that in back to back games for us. He’s a big part of our team.”

“Any time there’s ever been any sort of pressure on Marty Turco, he’s always risen,” winger Steve Ott added. “For some reason, if it’s during the regular season, a playoff series, when people doubt him or people put the slightest pressure on him, it doesn’t faze him at all. He never gets too high or too low. He keeps going on an even keel. Tonight was another perfect example of Marty being Marty.”

Turco’s puck play was an asset we saw a lot of in Dallas’ first-round triumph in six games over the Anaheim Ducks, and his penchant for retrieving almost all of the opposition’s dump-ins forced the defending Stanley Cup champions to alter their approach into the Stars’ zone, but Turco didn’t have much of an opportunity to do that in this series until this game.

Whenever the Wings dumped the puck in, Turco was out of his crease, on the puck and moving it up ice to facilitate a quick breakout.

“He just looked really aggressive, he didn’t really second-guess himself,” center Mike Modano said of Turco. “He was just going to go out there and play the puck and make the first correct open play that he saw. When he’s jumping out of the net and making plays like that, you know he’s involved, you know he’s into it mentally. 

“His focus was really good tonight and when he’s moving it around, we knew he was going to make some plays and he made some good outlets getting away from pressure, and that’s always been a big plus for us, since he’s been a goaltender for our team. He really has an ability to really neutralize a teams forecheck with his ability to get out of the net.”

Of course, once Turco got the puck up ice, the Stars’ skaters needed to execute offensively, and both Trevor Daley and Joel Lundqvist were able to beat Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood at the other end. On each goal, the speed with which Turco began the transition caught the Wings off-guard, contributing to odd-man rushes that the Stars capitalized on.

“Certainly when they’re making changes, there’s always seams,” Turco said. “But more than anything for me, it’s just the opportunity when it presents itself to grab pucks, to have lanes, to see them, make those plays. I don’t feel like I’m ever going to alter my game from playing the puck. But some nights, lanes are there, sometimes the guys are on the same page. Sometimes you’re just better seeing it. Tonight we were on. Just had the puck in the right spots to make those plays.”

Daley staked the Stars to a 1-0 midway through the first period, after Turco’s pass up the boards was relayed by Niklas Hagman to Brad Richards, whose beautiful drop pass between his legs set up Daley for a quick wrist shot. It was just the second time in the series they scored first.

“We definitely wanted to score the first goal,” said Daley, whose goal was his first of the post-season and just his second in 28 career post-season contests. “Getting the lead was huge. We’re playing hard and this one is done now so we want to focus on Game 6 now. We’re excited.”

The second goal, Lundqvist’s second of the post-season, snapped a 1-1 tie at 6:04 of the second after Turco’s pass up the middle sent Lundqvist and Toby Petersen in on a 2-on-1 before Lundqvist ripped a scorching wrister past Osgood on the far side.

And of course, between the pipes, Turco was outstanding again, delivering another crucial performance to keep the Stars’ season going and get the big monkey off his back.

“I saw it before the game even started, just the focus he had, his preparation,” captain Brenden Morrow said of Turco. “Then once the game started, he was real comfortable back there playing pucks, reading plays, making those passes. I think he hit Hagman for a two-on-one. But, you know, he’s given us a chance to win every night. Unfortunately, it’s a team sport and we haven’t been there for him sometimes. He’s going to get the brunt of the blame. We’re all in it together. Tonight we all pulled through.”

Turco made several huge saves on Detroit sniper Pavel Datsyuk and another on Tomas Holmstrom in the third period as the Wings pressed for the equalizer, but were unable to break through. Now, it’s back to Dallas and Game 6 at the American Airlines Center Monday night.

“We talked about it before the game,” Modano said. “We just felt, give us enough opportunities here, one of these days we’re going to play well, he’s going to stand out and win us a game here. That’s a great thing about sports, you get a lot of second chances, a lot of chances to prove yourself over again and erase a lot of doubt that everybody has in you.”

“Marty is great. He’s been great the whole series, the whole playoffs,” Daley said. “He’s our best player. Tonight, he was awesome.”

And he’ll have to be again to keep this ride going.