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Wednesday, Feb. 16 8:30pm ET
Fernandez earns first career shutout | |||||
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BOX SCORE
DALLAS (AP) -- If teams are going take a physical approach to stop Mike Modano, there will be consequences to be faced. The Dallas center scored twice and rookie Manny Fernandez stopped 18 shots for his first career shutout as the Stars beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 Wednesday night. "At times in the past, I would try to hide, but it's something I've had to deal with," Modano said. "When they push you in a corner, you've got to fight back." Modano scored 77 seconds after the opening faceoff, converting Jamie Langenbrunner's backhand pass with an angled shot from the right of goalie Tomas Vokoun. "People are coming at him physically and when you do that, the madder he gets and the better he plays," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He's not running from it. He gets his nose dirty." Modano added his 24th of the season on a wrist shot from the slot with 4:22 remaining. "When he turns the jets on, nobody can stop him," Stars defenseman Richard Matvichuk said. In his last 11 games, Modano has eight goals and eight assists. Dallas is 25-4-2 this season when Modano registers at least one point. Mike Keane scored his seventh of the season with 1:27 left. Fernandez, giving Stars' No. 1 goalie Ed Belfour a night off, raised his record to 8-5-1 with the help of Dallas penalty killers who survived seven Nashville power plays. "The first one is always special," said Fernandez of his shutout. "Now I don't have to think about it and I won't get asked about it all the time. I'm a regular goaltender now." The Stars continued their defensive dominance, having allowed two goals or less in 13 of 17 games. Dallas is 9-2 over its last 11 games. Nashville lost its fifth in a row and has scored five goals over that span. "Right now we're having trouble scoring goals," said Tom Fitzgerald of the Predators. "We're all trying to hit a home run. We've got to stick to basics and the scoring chances will come." Nashville held an 8-3 shots advantage in the second period as Dallas penalty killers shut down three power plays. Dallas withstood a two-man deficit for 47 seconds early in the third period. "We knew if we killed it, we'd put the pressure back on them," Matvichuk said. The Stars played without Derian Hatcher, Joe Nieuwendyk, Jere Lehtinen, Brian Skrudland and Shawn Chambers, all sidelined by injuries. Hatcher is expected to return Friday night against Phoenix. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Nashville Clubhouse Dallas Clubhouse RECAPS Montreal 5 Atlanta 1
Dallas 3
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