Stars get road split
The Dallas Stars made sure to avoid another long night by jumping on the Vancouver Canucks early.
Jeff Halpern and Joel Lundqvist scored on the opening shift in each of the first two periods, and Marty Turco made 35 saves as the Stars evened their first-round playoff series with a 2-0 win at Vancouver, British Columbia, on Friday night.
Stu Barnes assisted on both goals for the Stars, who head back to Dallas tied in the Western Conference quarterfinal. Game 3 is Sunday night.
After playing almost seven periods before losing in the wee hours of Thursday morning, and coming back less than 42 hours to play again, the Stars came out with lots of early energy. It took them only 24 seconds to get the goal they couldn’t through 78:06 of overtime in Game 1, with Halpern scoring on the first shift of the match.
Left alone in the slot after a defensive zone breakdown by the Canucks, Halpern deflected Sergei Zubov’s pass from the point behind a sliding Roberto Loungo.
It was more of the same to start the second period, with Lundqvist left unchecked to convert Mike Modano’ cross-ice feed just 45 seconds in.
Predators 5, Sharks 2: J.P. Dumont scored an unassisted short-handed goal, then added a power-play goal 2 1/2 minutes later, as Nashville evened its Western Conference quarterfinal by beating San Jose at Nashville, Tenn. Game 3 of the best-of-7 series is Monday night in San Jose, Calif.
Peter Forsberg scored two goals, rookie Alexander Radulov had a goal and an assist in the first period, and Marek Zidlicky had two assists as the Predators made sure this series will return to Nashville for Game 5.
Ducks 3, Wild 2: At Anaheim, Calif., defenseman Francois Beauchemin scored two power-play goals and Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves as Anaheim went up 2-0 in the best-of-7 Western Conference series, which shifts to Minnesota on Sunday and Tuesday.
Beauchemin scored in the first and second periods, and Ryan Getzlaf added a short-handed goal later in the second period. Then Anaheim held on after Mikko Koivu pulled the Wild within 3-2 on his goal with 4:56 left.
Around the league
Todd Bertuzzi, who had been injured, skated in practice with the Detroit Red Wings and hopes to play in Sunday’s Game 2 of their first-round series against Calgary. … New York Islanders star goalie Rick DiPietro is closer to making a return after practicing for the first time in three weeks since his second concussion, but coach Ted Nolan said he would wait until today’s morning skate before deciding whether he’d play in Game 2.