Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009

Stars rally from 2 down, beat Sharks in shootout

NHL Notes

SAN JOSE — Stephane Robidas scored the only shootout goal to give the Dallas Stars a 3-2 comeback victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

James Neal and Mike Modano tied it with goals in a 1:45 span of the third period after Dany Heatley and Ryane Clowe scored in a 2:11 span in the second period to give the Sharks a 2-0 edge. Neal scored his 10th goal of the season, and Modano, who missed 13 games because of a rib injury, tied it with his first of the season.

Marty Turco made 30 stops for the Stars, who gained a point for the first time in three road games. Evgeni Nabokov had 34 saves for the Sharks, who recorded a point in their 10th straight game. San Jose is 6-0-2 at home.

Neal, who missed the last two games because of a groin injury, recorded points in his eighth straight game. His goal hit off Sharks defender Jason Demers' skates and floated over Nabokov's left shoulder and into the net.

Modano's goal came as a result of Neal fanning on a shot. The puck floated back to Modano, who fired it past Nabokov. It was his 24th goal against San Jose and the 544th of his career, good for a 27th place tie with Maurice Richard on the career list.

The Sharks beat Dallas in five of their six meetings last season.

• THRASHERS 5, RANGERS 3, at New York — Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists in his first game back from a foot injury for Atlanta. Artem Anisimov, Marian Gaborik and Brian Boyle scored for New York.

• CANADIENS 4, COYOTES 2, at Glendale, Ariz. — Marc-Andre Bergeron and Glen Metropolit scored 1:02 apart in the third period, and Carey Price made 18 saves for Montreal. The Coyotes have lost four of five.

• FLYERS 5, SENATORS 1, at Philadelphia — Ray Emery made 22 saves in his first start against his former team, and Danny Briere scored two goals to help Philadelphia beat Ottawa. Blair Betts, James Van Riemsdyk and Darroll Powe also scored for the Flyers in their fifth straight victory.

• DEVILS 4, PENGUINS 1, at Pittsburgh — Niclas Bergfors had a goal and two assists and New Jersey closed within a victory of tying the NHL record of 10 consecutive road victories to start a season, beating slumping Pittsburgh.

• PANTHERS 1, BRUINS 0, (SO), at Boston — Tomas Vokoun stopped 40 shots for his third shutout in four games, and Cory Stillman scored in the fourth round of the shootout to lead Florida over Boston.

• PREDATORS 3, BLUES 1, at St. Louis — Jordin Tootoo scored on a wrist shot with 3:43 left to give Nashville the win over St. Louis. Tootoo beat Chris Mason from just outside the faceoff circle for his first goal of the season. David Legwand added an empty-net goal.

• LIGHTNING 4, WILD 3, (SO), at Tampa, Fla. — Ryan Malone tied it with 14.7 seconds left in regulation, and Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos scored in the shootout to give Tampa Bay a comeback win over Minnesota.

• RED WINGS 3, CANUCKS 1, at Detroit — Henrik Zetterberg scored midway through the third period and Jimmy Howard made 31 saves for Detroit.

• SLAP SHOTS — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy Bill Daly will meet with Glendale, Ariz., officials Monday to discuss the Phoenix Coyotes' arena lease and other issues related to the sale of the team. ... On the verge of leaving baseball, Donald Fehr is turning his attention to hockey. Fehr was appointed Thursday to assist the NHL Players' Association in its search for an executive director. ...

Henry Samueli has been reinstated as owner of the Anaheim Ducks after serving a suspension handed down by the NHL more than a year ago, when he pleaded guilty to a felony count of lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission.The NHL has suspended Vancouver forward Darcy Hordichuk one game and fined Canucks coach Alain Vigneault $10,000.

Hordichuk was assessed an instigator penalty after fighting Cam Janssen at 15:04 of the third period during Tuesday night's 6-1 loss to St. Louis. Janssen had roughed up Tanner Glass during a fight earlier in the game.