NEW YORK, 24 March 2004 — Shayne Corson scored twice and Marty Turco made 29 saves to lead the Dallas Stars to a 4-0 rout of the host Calgary Flames on Monday.
Turco recorded the 21st shutout of his NHL career as the Western Conference playoff contender Dallas began a four-game road trip. The Stars took their unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) as they won for only the 14th time in 37 road games this season (14-18-5).
Dallas grabbed a 3-0 first-period advantage and were never threatened after that. Turco’s solid goaltending earned him his ninth shutout of the season.
Corson, who signed a free-agent contract with the Stars earlier this season, barely figured in his second goal, scored into an empty net with 1:21 remaining.
Calgary’s Chris Clark accidentally backhanded a pass into his own net but Corson received the credit for his third goal of the season.
The Flames were without coach-general manager Darryl Sutter and left wing Krzysztof Oliwa. Sutter was handed a two-game suspension and Oliwa banned for three games by the NHL for their roles in a brawl against Nashville Saturday.
Calgary assistant coaches Rich Preston, Jim Playfair and Rob Cookson replaced Sutter Monday.
Brendan Morrow and Jason Arnott also tallied as the Stars moved into fourth place in the Western Conference standings.
The Flames have lost two straight games but are still in sixth place in the West.
In St. Paul, Mike Comrie netted with 24.2 seconds left in overtime to give the Phoenix Coyotes a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.
In Los Angeles, Ryan Smyth scored with less than seven minutes to play in regulation time, clinching a 2-1 triumph for the Edmonton Oilers over the Kings.
Leafs Winger Belak Suspended Eight Games
Toronto Maple Leafs winger Wade Belak was suspended eight games Monday for a vicious slash to the head on Colorado Avalanche’s Ossi Vaananen as the NHL continued its crackdown on violent on-ice attacks.
The ban, which is for the final six games of the regular season and first two games of the playoffs, came 12 days after Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks was suspended the rest of the season for an ugly sucker punch on Avalanche rookie Steve Moore.
“Mr Belak used his stick in a careless, dangerous and unacceptable manner,” said Colin Campbell, NHL’s executive vice president and director of hockey operations, in a statement.
Vaananen escaped injury but was knocked to the ice when Belak slammed the Avs defenseman across the head midway through the second period of Saturday’s game, which Toronto won 5-2. Belak was assessed a match penalty for deliberate attempt to injure.
Earlier Monday, New York Rangers captain Mark Messier was suspended two games for a vicious spear on Pittsburgh Penguins’ Martin Strbak Sunday.
On Sunday, the league suspended Calgary Flames coach-general manager Darryl Sutter two games and forward Krzysztof Oliwa three games for their part in a brawl near the end of Saturday’s clash with the Nashville Predators.
The Flames were also fined $50,000.
