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Dallas rallies late

San Jose center Joe Thornton, left, fights for the puck as Dallas goalie Marty Turco keeps an eye on the situation.Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
San Jose center Joe Thornton, left, fights for the puck as Dallas goalie Marty Turco keeps an eye on the situation.Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Mike Modano and the Dallas Stars probably don’t want to leave the Shark Tank. At least they’re heading home with a two-game lead in a second-round series that’s turning into a rout.

Modano scored the tiebreaking goal early in the Stars’ four-goal third period, and Marty Turco made 29 saves in a 5-2 victory over the Sharks in Game 2 on Sunday night at San Jose, Calif., sending Dallas home with a commanding series lead.

Brad Richards scored the tying goal on an awful San Jose turnover in the opening minute of the third period, and Niklas Hagman added two insurance goals in the Stars’ eighth victory in their last nine trips to San Jose. Mike Ribeiro also scored an early goal before Dallas put a tremendous finish on another profitable night at the Shark Tank.

Dallas hasn’t reached the conference finals since 2000, when the Stars beat San Jose in the second round on the way to their second straight Stanley Cup finals appearance.

Games 3 and 4 are back-to-back, starting Tuesday night in Dallas. The Sharks might have a better chance to get competitive in Texas, since the NHL’s best road team during the regular season has won three of its last four games in Dallas.

Milan Michalek and Joe Pavelski scored for the second-seeded Sharks, who are 4-5 overall in the playoffs with none of the momentum they acquired during their 20-game regular-season streak without a regulation defeat. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 21 shots, but was no closer to top form than his teammates.

Penguins 2, Rangers 0: At Pittsburgh, Jordan Staal’s game-winning playoff goal for the Penguins couldn’t have made his parents much happier. Or sadder.

Staal’s power-play goal in the second period broke a scoreless tie and Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made the lead stand up, giving the Penguins a victory over New York and a home-ice sweep of the first two games of their second-round series.

Staal’s goal came with older brother Marc, a Rangers defenseman on the ice, and was all the offensive support Fleury needed while making 26 saves. Adam Hall scored into an empty net with 16.7 seconds remaining to cap the scoring.

Games 3 and 4 will be Tuesday and Thursday nights at New York.

Staal’s power-play goal at 13:55 of the second came with the Rangers’ best penalty killer, Chris Drury, off for hooking. Evgeni Malkin gathered the puck in the left circle and, shedding Marc Staal, fed it down low to Jordan Staal, who shifted from his backhand to his forehand to lift the puck over goalie Henrik Lundqvist.