Special Stars

Dallas takes down Los Angeles 4-1 Saturday to prevent getting swept for the season series. Things didn't look good after the first period considering the Stars were down by one and were playing extremely undisciplined (three penalties, including Jamie Benn punching Dustin Brown in the face). Captain Brenden Morrow leveled the playing field 17 seconds into the second period, then Brad Richards put it away with a pair of his own and Steve Ott finished the scoring with a tally in the third. Interestingly enough, all five goals scored in this game were on the power-play. Even more interesting was that the Stars scored on a 5-4, 5-3, and 4-3 power-plays. The referees dominated the game, calling 15 separate penalties. Lost in the special teams excitement would be the stellar play of Kari Lehtonen. Stopping 29 of 30 shots, he is giving fans hope for next season. Brad Richards is seven points away from topping his career high in points, which is quite do-able at the pace he's on. Mike Modano has begun skating again, and Krys Barch is out for the rest of the season due to a cut leg. And this just in: Mike Ribeiro will be held out of tonight's game due to missing a team meeting. Sounds like Crawford knows how to put the foot down.