Recap
Stars 5, Avalanche 3
Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) - The Stars need their power play operating at a high level if they hope to make some noise in the playoffs.

Dallas' slumping power play produced goals by Mike Modano, Philippe Boucher and Brenden Morrow as the Stars stopped a three-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

Modano and Boucher converted on two of Dallas' first three power-play chances after the Stars had gone 1-for-17 with the advantage in their previous three games.

"It comes and goes," said Modano, who had two goals and an assist. "It's been a roller-coaster situation with us. But if we continue to do the things we do, the puck will find its way through."

Morrow's power-play goal in the final minute sealed the win for Dallas after Colorado narrowed a three-goal deficit to 4-3.

Jussi Jokinen had a goal and two assists, and Sergei Zubov added two assists for the Stars.

Marty Turco made 14 saves for the Stars, who allowed six goals in each of their previous three games.

"It wasn't pretty," Boucher said of the three-game skid that matched Dallas' longest of the season. "It was actually kind of embarrassing. It was nice to have a good answer."

Brett McLean, Milan Hejduk and Rob Blake scored for Colorado, which had won five of six.

Modano deflected Zubov's power-play shot off the glove of Avalanche goaltender Peter Budaj and into the net at 6:45 of the first period. It was Modano's 20th goal.

Dallas cashed in on its third power play of the first period when Boucher notched his 13th goal on a one-timer from just inside the blue line at 15:25.

"Things haven't gone the way we would have liked," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We needed our best players to step up and be counted and drag everybody else through."

Colorado got on the scoreboard with 19 seconds left in the opening period when McLean scored from the slot after skating around Boucher.

Jokinen made it 3-1 at 14:12 of the period, scoring from low in the left circle after Modano's setup. Modano then scored on a deflection at 15:26 to give Dallas a three-goal edge.

But third-period, power-play goals by Hejduk at 10:10 and Blake at 13:36 pulled Colorado within 4-3.

"I felt like at the end we had the momentum," Hejduk said. "We created some scoring chances but in the end it was not enough."

Morrow's power-play rebound with 29 seconds remaining gave the Stars a two-goal lead as Dallas improved to 21-10-1 at home.

Notes: The Stars recognized their four Finnish players - Jokinen, Jere Lehtinen, Niko Kapanen and Niklas Hagman - for winning the Olympic silver medal in men's hockey. A video presentation was shown in the first period. ... Modano reached the 20-goal mark for the 14th time. He has 132 power-play goals, second in franchise history behind Brian Bellows' 134. ... Budaj had allowed six goals in his three previous games against Dallas. ... Colorado began a stretch in which it will play nine of 10 games on the road.


Three star selections
1st:   MIKE MODANO
2nd:   JUSSI JOKINEN
3rd:   JASON ARNOTT
Winning Goaltender
Marty Turco

Losing Goaltender
Peter Budaj

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STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
P. Parenteau 48 18 25 -11 43
M. Duchene 47 17 26 -12 43
P. Stastny 40 9 15 -7 24
J. McGinn 47 11 11 -13 22
J. Mitchell 47 10 10 5 20
R. O'Reilly 29 6 14 -3 20
G. Landeskog 36 9 8 -4 17
T. Barrie 32 2 11 -11 13
C. McLeod 48 8 4 4 12
M. Hejduk 29 4 7 -7 11
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
J. Giguere 5 4 4 .908 2.84
S. Varlamov 11 21 3 .903 3.02
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