GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NHL: DALLAS (13-11) at NEW JERSEY (11-12)

By Joe Rizzo
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) - The Dallas Stars are hot. The NewJersey Devils are a little hotter.


Dainius Zubrus scored midway through the third period to snap atie and cap a comeback as the Devils rode the momentum fromtheir perfect road trip to a 4-2 victory over the Stars onWednesday in their return home to the Prudential Center.

Zubrus' goal finished off a 2-on-1 rush and a rally from atwo-goal deficit for the Devils, who extended their winningstreak to five games - including a 4-0-0 road trip thatconcluded Saturday at Tampa Bay.


Dallas had won six straight and recorded points in its previouseight, including a 6-0-1 mark since Brett Hull and Les Jacksontook over as co-general managers on November 13. The Stars,however, missed matching the franchise-record winning streak ofseven games.


With just over nine minutes remaining in the third, Zubrusblocked a shot, got up and skated away with the puck on a 2-on-1rush with Jamie Langenbrunner. Langenbrunner carried the puckup the right wing and into the offensive zone before passingacross the slot to Zubrus, who lifted it over the blocker ofgoaltender Marty Turco at 10:57 for his fifth goal of the seasonand a 3-2 edge.


"(Langenbrunner) was patient, he bought me some time (so) Icould get closer to (Turco)," Zubrus said. "He got me into a<div class="pre">shooting position. The pass was perfect right on the tape. I</div>was able to get it off right away."


"It's a real nice pass when you can one-time it off the off-winglike that," Turco said. "They made two good plays. But<div class="pre">2-on-1s late in the game we try to just avoid that."</div>

New Jersey allowed the first two goals of the contest in theopening period, then halved the deficit at 8:52 of the second asDavid Clarkson scored on a wraparound after fighting off adefender along the end boards. But it was a two-man advantagethe Devils successfully killed with five minutes left in thesession that sparked the comeback.


Defensemen Sheldon Brookbank and Colin White took penalties 23seconds apart, but the Devils thwarted the efforts of the Stars'power play. Brian Gionta capitalized with 72 seconds left inthe period, beating Turco between the pads with a one-timer fromthe bottom of the slot off Patrik Elias' feed from below theleft faceoff circle.


"That 5-on-3 was massive," Devils coach Brent Sutter said."Marty (Brodeur) made some great saves and the guys on the icewere great. Then we got that second (goal) and we were on ourway."


"I was trying to get to the front of the net off a shift,"Gionta said. "He made a great pass. Patty laid it out therenice for me. At the beginning of the year, 2-0, we would havepacked it in right there."


Brodeur preserved the tie with roughly 15 minutes left in thethird, coming out of the crease to poke-check away the puck fromBrenden Morrow, who had gotten behind the defense during apower play.


The Stars made the first mistake of the game, when Jeff Halpernwas penalized for hooking Zubrus at 10:33 of the opening period.But Stu Barnes erased the miscue just nine seconds later, whenhe beat Brodeur between the pads from a very sharp angle on theright side off a rush.


It was Barnes' first goal of the season and the 250th of hiscareer, but just his 10th shorthanded.


"The last few games, it's started to come around a bit," saidBarnes, who had not scored shorthanded since the 2005-06 season."We've been finding ways to win lately. It hasn't always beenthe perfect formula, but we've found ways to win."

Just under three minutes later, Jussi Jokinen scored from asimilar angle on the left side. Jokinen rushed up the wing, gotto the bottom of the circle and released a wrist shot along theice that found its way under Brodeur's glove with 6:20 to go inthe first.


But they never again beat Brodeur, who finished with 19 saves.

"These guys did a great job getting the goals back," saidBrodeur, who was honored by the team prior to the game forrecording his 500th career win while the Devils were on theirroad trip. "They did a great job on the 5-on-3. We didn't letthis 'little thing' affect our game."


"We caught some momentum with the 5-on-3, but Marty saw the puckand made some good saves," Turco said.


Zach Parise scored an empty-netter for New Jersey, which halteda two-game skid at home.


Turco turned aside 22 shots for the Stars, who fell to 2-1-0 ontheir season-high six-game road trip.


"It wasn't our best effort, but we had a chance," Turco said.

"The 5-on-3 was the difference in the game," Dallas center MikeRibeiro said. "We're pretty good here, and we don't want alosing streak."