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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
DALLAS (AP) -- The Dallas Stars might have been a little too
impressed with their five-game winning streak, which came to a
sudden halt at the hands of the young and speedy Vancouver Canucks.
Brendan Morrison, Denis Pederson and Bryan Helmer scored
second-period goals over a span of four minutes and 34 seconds as
the Canucks cruised to a 6-2 victory.
|  | | Canucks goaltender Bob Essensa made 22 saves to stay unbeaten in four starts. |
"Maybe we came in a little overconfident," said Stars goalie
Ed Belfour, pulled from the game late in the second period. "That
happens sometimes when you're on a winning streak. You let up a
little."
Morrison snapped a 1-1 tie and Pederson scored 61 seconds later
to give the Canucks a 3-1 lead.
Vancouver, 4-1-1 in its last six games, went on to hand Dallas
its first home defeat of the season following a 4-0-1 start.
"Dallas is a tough team to play against," Canucks coach Marc
Crawford said. "They challenge you physically. We answered the
challenge as the game wore on. Dallas doesn't give you much free
ice but we were getting to the puck with a purpose."
Brett Hull of the Stars notched his second goal of the night and
618th of his career at 15:05 of the second period to make it 3-2.
But Vancouver defenseman Bryan Helmer beat Belfour, who was late
returning to the crease after playing the puck behind his net.
Trent Klatt came away with the puck and fed Helmer, who boosted the
Canucks' advantage to 4-2 at 17:55 of the second.
"I went out to play the puck, but it wouldn't sit down for
me," Belfour said. "We've got to put this behind us as a team and
learn from our mistakes."
Stars coach Ken Hitchcock sent in rookie Marty Turco to replace
Belfour, who gave up four goals on 12 shots.
Third-period insurance goals by Todd Bertuzzi and Matt Cooke
(short-handed) extended Vancouver's lead to 6-2.
The six goals were the most by a Stars opponent since a 6-4
defeat to Toronto on Jan. 20, 1999.
"I thought we were outplayed from top to bottom," Hitchcock
said. "We had far too many no-shows ... We looked very disjointed.
They're a very, very good club. That's the best club we've played
this season by far."
Vancouver scored first at 11:26 of the opening period when
rookie Henrik Sedin knocked in the rebound off a shot by his
brother Daniel. Hull's first goal of the game tied it at 1 at 12:15
of the second.
Game notes
The winning streak fell two short of tying the franchise
record set in 1997. ... Hull is nine goals behind Steve Yzerman for
seventh place on the NHL's career list. ... Canucks goalie Bob
Essensa stopped 22 shots to remain unbeaten in four starts. ...
Vancouver played on consecutive nights for the second time this
season. The Canucks rallied for a 4-4 tie at Nashville on Tuesday
night.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Vancouver Clubhouse
Dallas Clubhouse
RECAPS
Buffalo 4
Carolina 1
San Jose 3
Columbus 1
Detroit 5
Tampa Bay 1
New Jersey 2
Florida 1
Ottawa 3
Pittsburgh 2
Toronto 6
Minnesota 1
Vancouver 6
Dallas 2
Colorado 2
Nashville 1
Atlanta 3
Edmonton 1
Los Angeles 6
Anaheim 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Henrik Sedin scores off his brother Daniel's shot.
avi: 638 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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