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Saturday, Nov. 6 10:30pm ET
Vernon's 32 saves too much for Stars | |||||
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BOX SCORE
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- The lack of playing time isn't hurting Mike Vernon's performance. Vernon made 32 saves and Jeff Friesen and Ron Sutter scored goals to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. Jamie Langenbrunner scored for the Stars, who have lost four of their last five. Vernon was making his first start since Oct. 24 and his sixth appearance of the season. "I was just trying to keep my head into it," said Vernon. "I wanted to stay focused and be in good position. I just reacted. There's no doubt I got lucky on some of those shots." Vernon, third among active goaltenders in career wins with 349, last won on Oct. 2. He's been on the bench most of the year as Steve Shields has been effective enough to lead the NHL with nine victories and a .939 save percentage. "I thought it was typical Vernon," said Sharks coach Darryl Sutter. "I trust what he can do." San Jose took a 1-0 lead 6½ minutes into the game when Ron Stern skated down the side, passed to Dave Lowry, who took a shot. The puck deflected off Sutter's skate, just squeezing past Dallas goaltender Manny Fernandez to the near post. "I thought we had a chance to win the game," said Dallas' Mike Keane. "They got a flukey goal to start and Vernon made some nice saves, but we had more than enough chances to win the game." Friesen scored his ninth goal of the season on a power play. Vincent Damphousse took a shot on goal and Friesen, who was on the near side of the crease, backhanded the puck into a wide-open net. "One key to this hockey club is depth," said Vernon. "When you go to your depth, sometimes you get results. There were a lot of good plays out there." Dallas, who came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Phoenix on Friday night, pulled to within 2-1 on a goal from Langenbrunner. He picked up a loose puck near the blue line, skated behind the net, and came out to slip it past Vernon. "We had chances to score, but we couldn't put the puck in the net," said Stars' center Guy Carbonneau. "Even when it was 2-0, I thought overall we controlled the game. If we got a different bounce, it could have been a different game." Fernandez, making his third start of the year and his first since Oct. 16, earned his only win of the season against San Jose on Oct. 9. Fernandez, who had 23 saves, has appeared in 12 career games, all with Dallas. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Dallas Clubhouse San Jose Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 4 Atlanta 2
San Jose 2
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