Sweet victory as Wild tops Stars

Published 12:00 am Monday, December 18, 2000

The Associated Press

It was not a happy homecoming for the Dallas Stars.

Monday, December 18, 2000

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It was not a happy homecoming for the Dallas Stars.

They failed to convert four power plays, couldn’t score at all against a goalie they traded away after last season, and allowed an expansion team to record its most lopsided victory.

Manny Fernandez stopped 24 shots for his second shutout of the season and Darby Hendrickson scored twice as the Minnesota Wild beat Dallas 6-0 Sunday.

A record crowd of 18,834 watched the Stars return to the state where they played until the franchise moved to Dallas in 1993.

"Before this game, the fans were very excited," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "We could feel it in the locker room. And the fact that we scored got them excited, too. We could sense how much the fans wanted us to win this one."

In Sunday’s only other NHL game, Anaheim beat Tampa Bay 3-1 for its first three-game winning streak of the season.

"The fans were a big part of this, and the team had been looking forward to this game for a few weeks now," the Wild’s Hendrickson said. "You knew that it was going to be exciting, but we knew we couldn’t be too aggressive and emotional."

The Stars hadn’t been shut out since a 1-0 loss against the Carolina on Nov. 20, 1999.

Fernandez was with Dallas last season as Ed Belfour’s backup.

"Manny made some big second and third saves, but it was an easy night," said Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock. "This game was over in the first period."

The Wild scored twice in less than a minute in the opening period. Jeff Nielsen made it 1-0 with a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle. On the next shift, Ladislav Benysek’s low shot from along the boards hit the stick of Wild forward Marian Gaborik and deflected into the upper right corner of the net with 10 minutes gone.

Minnesota’s Peter Bartos scored 11:42 into the second period, intercepting Brett Hull’s clearing attempt and firing it into the upper left corner of the goal.

Two minutes later, Belfour attempted to clear the puck himself, but it was picked off by Minnesota’s Antti Laaksonen behind the net. With Belfour out of position, Laaksonen passed to Hendrickson, who tapped the puck into an empty net.