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 Marty Turco made 28 saves, Niklas Hagman also scored and Jeff Halpern added an insurance goal with 2:09 remaining for the Stars, who won for just the third time in 10 games. Dallas' slumps seem to evaporate at the Shark Tank, where the Stars have won six straight, including all three visits this season.
Modano's second two-goal game of the season in San Jose pulled the Stars even with the Sharks in the division standings, just one point behind first-place Anaheim. Dallas finished up a five-game road trip with just two victories, but has a four-game homestand before next weekend's All-Star break.
Joe Thornton and Milan Michalek scored for the Sharks, who have lost three straight
-- all to division rivals -- after winning seven of their previous eight.
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 27 shots, but San Jose couldn't control Modano, who became the NHL's leading American-born scorer with a two-goal game at the Shark Tank on Nov. 7. Modano has just three multigoal games all season, but the veteran is plenty comfortable on San Jose's rutted ice.
The Sharks couldn't survive another ordinary night from Nabokov, the soon-to-be All-Star who started each of the club's first 43 games before getting a night off last Sunday at Anaheim. After rookie Thomas Greiss lost his NHL debut to the Ducks, Nabokov yielded five goals Tuesday in Phoenix during one of his worst starts of the season.
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After Michalek and Hagman each scored their 16th goals in the first period, Modano put the Stars ahead late in the second on a fine pass from Loui Eriksson from behind the net. The goal snapped a nine-game drought for Modano.
Thornton tied it early in the third period when his attempt at a pass to Steve Bernier ricocheted off defenseman Matt Niskanen's stick and landed behind Turco. The goal was Thornton's second in two games after going 14 games without a goal.
Both teams had good scoring chances before Modano ripped his 14th goal of the season through traffic.
Notes: Sharks D Craig Rivet pummeled Trevor Daley in a first-period fight instigated by the Dallas defenseman, who got 17 minutes in penalties. ... San Jose D Sandis Ozolinsh was a healthy scratch for the seventh time in eight games. Alexei Semenov replaced him. ... Sharks D Kyle McLaren also was a scratch after undergoing minor knee surgery Monday.
[Associated Press; By GREG BEACHAM]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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