Stars Put Injuries Aside, Ride Irbe Past Blackhawks

Playing without several key players, the Dallas Stars kept it simple for two periods. Then they let Arturs Irbe win the game.

Irbe made 12 of his 24 saves in the third period to lead the visiting Stars to a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Todd Harvey scored the only goal, capitalizing on a rare blunder by defenseman Keith Carney.

“Irbe is the type of goalie who, if you don’t get to him early, you’re not going to get to him at all,” Star Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We had to change our game plan with a lot of players out, played a safer game, and got away with it because Irbe won the game for us in the third period.”

Dallas lacked Benoit Hogue, Craig Ludwig, Richard Matvichuk, Greg Adams and Jere Lehtinen because of injuries.

Florida 2, San Jose 2--Kelly Hrudey stopped 31 shots and the Sharks withstood a Panther power play in overtime at Miami.

Jeff Friesen and Owen Nolan scored power-play goals for the Sharks.

Tampa Bay 3, St. Louis 2--Dino Ciccarelli scored his team-leading 25th goal as the host Lightning won its fourth consecutive game.

Brett Hull scored his 36th and 37th goals for the Blues.

Montreal 4, Vancouver 2--Mark Recchi had two goals and an assist and Jocelyn Thibault made 28 saves at Vancouver as the Canadiens solidified their hold on a playoff spot.

The Canucks have lost three in a row and have dropped out of the top eight in the West.