Surging Stars upend Canucks for 5-2 win

[March 08, 2012]  VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Mike Ribeiro scored twice and the surging Dallas Stars took the Pacific Division lead by beating the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Tuesday.

Ribeiro's 16th goal of the season midway through the third period provided insurance when he tipped a Michael Ryder pass behind goalie Roberto Luongo.

In the second period, he gave the Stars a 2-1 lead 2 minutes 53 seconds after Loui Eriksson tied the game for Dallas.

Jamie Benn, who had close calls earlier in the game around the Vancouver net, gave Dallas a 3-1 lead after a Canucks defensive zone turnover.

Stephane Robidas completed the scoring into an empty net.

Dallas won for the seventh time in eight games to end a five-game losing streak at Vancouver.

Chris Higgins gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead, but the Stars rallied to overcome a deficit for the second time in two games against the Canucks.

Alex Edler's long shot appeared to handcuff Dallas goalie Richard Bachman to draw the Canucks to within a goal.

Dallas (36-26-5) continued its drive for a first Western Conference playoff berth since 2008 by winning its third straight on a Western Canada road trip.

The Canucks (41-18-8) lost ground in their bid for the NHL's overall lead by dropping their second game in a row at home.

Vancouver lost a second straight game in regulation for the first time since November to fall a point behind St. Louis in the Western Conference.

Higgins ended 26 minutes, 45 seconds of scoreless hockey with his 13th goal of the season and second in three games.

He took Jannik Hansen's pass, stepped over the Dallas blue line and fired a hard wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle.

Eriksson, who beat Vancouver in overtime Feb. 26, tied the game on a power play with his fifth goal in six games after Vancouver's Alex Burrows was penalized for slashing.

Dallas defenseman Trevor Daley carried the puck into the corner and fed a goalmouth pass that bounced in off Eriksson's skate.

Ribeiro sent Dallas into the third period with a 2-1 lead off an odd-man rush where he used Ryder as a screen and fired over Luongo's blocker.

Bachman had an adventurous beginning to his second start in 17 games.

He faced Zack Kassian on a penalty shot 24 seconds after the opening faceoff when the Canucks rookie was interfered with on a break-in by defender Mark Fistric.

Kassian lost control of the puck on his penalty shot, but Bachman had a Henrik Sedin chip toward the net go off the back of his leg when he misplayed a shoot-in seconds later.

Luongo also had some tense moments when Benn had close-in chances late in the opening period.

Benn slid a return pass from Steve Ott wide of an open goal then fanned again as he skated by another gaping net.

NOTES: The Stars lost Daley for most of the first period when Burrows fell on him during a goalmouth scrum. ... Vancouver outscored the Stars 20-5 in winning all four games between the clubs last season. ... Their four meetings this season are compressed into a 34-day period. ... The Canucks play a franchise-record 11 home games in March.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.