Norstrom Caps Stars 4-2 Comeback Win

[April 07, 2008]  DALLAS (AP) -- Defenseman Mattias Norstrom's rare goal put his team ahead for good late in the second period as the Dallas Stars rallied to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Sunday in a physical regular-season finale that included 160 penalty minutes.

Dallas erased a 2-0 deficit on goals by Antti Miettinen, Stu Barnes and Norstrom in the final 10 minutes of the second period.

With the game tied at 2 and the Stars with an extra attacker on a delayed Sharks penalty, Norstrom fired Toby Petersen's cross-ice pass into an open net with 13 seconds remaining in the second period for Norstrom's second goal of the season and 18th in 14 seasons.

Steve Ott's goal from the right circle with 1:22 left extended Dallas' lead to 4-2. It was Ott's 11th of the season.

Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo had power-play goals for the Sharks, who closed out the regular season with consecutive losses following an 18-0-2 run that earned them the Pacific Division title and No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

San Jose will play seventh-seeded Calgary in the first round of the playoffs.

Brenden Morrow had two assists and Marty Turco stopped 32 shots for the Stars, who ended the regular season in a 4-8-2 tailspin that pushed them out of first place in the Pacific and into the No. 5 playoff seed. Dallas faces No. 4 Anaheim in the first round.

There were 105 penalty minutes in the first period, 57 to the Sharks who collected three 10-minute misconducts and three fighting majors. Dallas' Stephane Robidas received a game misconduct and a five-minute major for checking from behind during the opening 20 minutes.

Joe Thornton, Alexei Semenov, and Jody Shelley of San Jose, and Trevor Daley of Dallas all received misconduct penalties in the opening period. Shelley was assessed a game misconduct in the second period.

San Jose had 2:29 worth of a 5-on-3 near the end of the first period, and the Sharks capitalized with Marleau's 19th goal of the season from the right circle at 17:33.

The Sharks had two more power plays in the first five minutes of the second period and they took advantage on the second one when Cheechoo notched his 23rd of the season from the right circle at 5:46 for a 2-0 edge.

Dallas pulled within 2-1 at 11:35 of the second period on Miettinen's 15th of the season, a one-timer from the high slot off a setup by Mike Modano.

Barnes tied it at 2 at 16:13 of the second period, skating down the right side and beating goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to the glove side for Barnes' 12th of the season.

Notes: For the third straight game, Dallas was without C Brad Richards (soreness) and C Mike Ribeiro (flu). The Stars expect both to be healthy for the playoffs. ...Dallas called up RW Konstantin Pushkarev from the AHL Iowa Stars prior to the game, but Pushkarev was among the Stars' scratches, along with RW Jere Lehtinen (flu). ...Out for the Sharks were D Craig Rivet, C Jeremy Roenick and RW Mike Grier. ...Cheechoo returned to the lineup after missing six games with a head injury.

[Associated Press]

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