alf and thats what matters." Valanciunas scored 10 of his 14 second-half points in the third quarter, including five in a r

DALLAS -- After winning the last three games by a 14-1 margin, Dallas coach Lindy Ruff and goalie Kari Lehtonen believe the Stars latest win was their best this season. Lehtonen made 24 saves for his second shutout in three games to lead the Stars to a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. "The last three games have all been excellent in all three zones," Ruff said. "This one against a highly skilled team and taking care of special teams probably knocks the other two down a little bit." Sergei Gonchar, Jamie Benn and Rich Peverley had Dallas goals, and Lehtonen also had an assist for the second consecutive game. "This is up there," Lehtonen said. "That teams really good. We were able to play a lot better than them. We dominated the power play and the penalty kill. Overall, it was a great effort." The Metropolitan Division-leading Penguins have lost two games in six days by a combined 8-1 to Dallas and Florida, teams fighting to get into playoff contention. Gonchar had a power-play goal, his second score this season, with just under 5 minutes remaining in the first period against his former team. Dallas has scored with a man advantage in seven consecutive games. Alex Goligoski, another former Penguins player, had an assist when Benn scored to make it 2-0 at 3:14 of the second. Peverley closed the scoring a little more than 7 minutes later. "This is desperation for (the Stars) and we saw that in their last two games. We saw it again tonight," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "This was a desperate team, played hard. We have to be able to match that regardless of where our position is or what the standings look like." Lehtonen faced only 12 shots during the first two periods, before the Penguins doubled their attempts in the third. "There were a couple of good (saves) in the second period when it was 2-0," Lehtonen said. "After that, we were able to score to make it 3-0. After that, it was quite relaxing. If I let one in, there would still be a two-goal lead." He stopped Pittsburghs Evgeni Malkin point-blank 9 1/2 minutes into the third. "With the team in front of him for the first 40 minutes, you couldnt find more than one or two good chance," Ruff said. "In the third period when he really needed them, he stood tall." Dallas line of Cody Eakin, Antoine Roussel and Ryan Garbutt neutralized the line centred by Penguins scoring leader Sidney Crosby. "We were sharp, quick and crispy, and it worked out for us," Eakin said. Dallas dominated the first period, with 10 shots on goal to Pittsburghs 4, and scored first. Gonchar took a pass at the top of the slot from Ray Whitney on the right wing boards, and fired a high shot over Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Lehtonen also received an assist on the score. The Penguins Kris Letang went off for roughing at 1:14 of the second period. One second before the penalty expired, Benn took a pass from Goligoski in the right faceoff circle and shot over Fleurys shoulder to make it 2-0. The two power-play goals came against Pittsburghs league-leading unit, which entered the game with a streak of 11 successful penalty kills. "They capitalized on their power plays. We didnt," Crosby said. "We didnt execute when we got chances. They carried the play for the first two periods." Bylsma added: "I think momentum changed, we turn over the puck in the neutral zone. That led back to a chance against and then we took a penalty. That got their first power-play goal and in this game, were minus-2 in the special teams battle. That was a big part of the story tonight." Midway through the second period, Shawn Horcoff stole the puck in the neutral zone and passed to Peverley, who skated into the right circle and shot into the upper right corner of the net with 9:40 remaining. The Stars again outshot Pittsburgh in the second, 12-8. NOTES: Lehtonen leads NHL goalies with four assists this season. He has 31 in his career, with a high of six in 2010-11. ... Goligoski has five assists in his last three games. ... The Stars power-play streak is their longest since a seven-game run Dec. 11-23, 2010. They have improved from 29th in the league this season to 24th. ... Dallas penalty killers have succeeded on their last 15 opportunities, including four Saturday. ... Pittsburgh had won seven of the previous eight games against the Stars, dating back to 2003-04. ... Fleury had entered the game 6-0 with a 1.95 goals against average vs. Dallas. . Defenceman Matt Niskanens career-high six-game point streak ended for Pittsburgh. ... Benn has nine points in the past seven games. Custom Jerseys Sale . As if he had been rehearsing it, Vasquez looked around with a grimacing stare as he clinched two fists and flexed his muscles. What do you think of DeMar DeRozans face after he hits a big shot, he was asked moments earlier. Cheap Custom Jerseys Online . And all things considered, the first 40 games have offered a little bit of everything from a hockey club that faced many questions in its first year under new management, with a new head coach and with a number of new faces in the lineup. However, with a recent dip in scoring, it seems some of the same old questions persist and several new ones have been raised after a somewhat troubling homestand. http://www.baseballjerseyscustom.com/ . The 155th edition of the Plate for Canadian-foaled three-year-olds, the oldest continuously run stakes race in North America, will be televised live on TSN in HD (High Definition) in a special presentation from 4:30 – 6:00 pm ET. Post time is 5:38 pm. Clearance Custom Baseball Jerseys . Buffalos defensive co-ordinator had his second interview with Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner on Tuesday night, a person familiar with the Browns plans told The Associated Press. Custom Baseball Jerseys China .Y. - OK, it is done. TORONTO -- Dwane Casey saw it as a sign of maturity on the part of his young team. After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91. "Thats another step in our growth," Casey said after Friday nights win at Air Canada Centre. "Last year at this time, if wed have missed shots like that wed have caved in. "But we kept grinding it, grinding it, grinding it and thats what you have to do when the shots arent falling." The Raptors (30-25) shot a woeful 32.7 per cent from the field in the first half and trailed 44-39. But, with second-year centre Jonas Valanciunas leading the way, Toronto shot an impressive 16-for 23, or 69.5 per cent, in the third quarter on the way to winning their fourth game in five starts. "We said we need to pick it up, we need to come out with energy," Valanciunas, who finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, said of the talk in the locker room at halftime. "Thats what it was all about. "We shot really bad the first half but we did a better job the second half and thats what matters." Valanciunas scored 10 of his 14 second-half points in the third quarter, including five in a row during a 4:07 stretch that saw the Raptors turn a one-point deficit into a 10-point lead. Second-year guard Terrence Ross had a team-high 20 points as the Raptors snapped the Cavaliers (22-34) six-game winning streak and widened their lead to 3-1/2 games over the idle Brooklyn Nets atop the NBAs Atlantic Division. With the win, the Raptors equalled the third-fastest time theyve reached the 30-win mark in team history, just one game off the best mark of 54 games in both the 2009-10 and 2007-08 seasons. The Raptors, who have missed the playoffs in each of the past five seasons, diidnt win their 30th game until their 78th outing last year.dddddddddddd Although Ross led the Raptors in scoring, it was his defensive play against Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving, who was named MVP of last weekends NBA All-Star Game, that drew rave reviews from his teammates. "Defensively, hes always been impressive, and hes getting better," Toronto guard Kyle Lowry said after Irving was held to 3-for-16 shooting on his way to 17 points. "I told him that on the bench tonight." Lowry had 14 points, nine assists and six rebounds. DeMar DeRozan added 14 points and five assists. Clevelands Luol Deng led all scorers with 21 points and added 11 rebounds while Tristan Thompson of Brampton, Ont., added 13 points and nine assists and Anthony Bennett, also from Brampton, who last spring became the first Canadian to ever go first overall in the NBA draft, had nine points in his first game here. "We just had to pick up our defensive intensity," Ross said of the message delivered at halftime. "The biggest thing, we were coming out, playing too lackadaisical and we had to pick that up." Toronto outscored Cleveland 37-21 in the third quarter to take control. Valanciunas made a layup with 7:22 to go in the quarter to put the Raptors up for good at 53-52. After Valanciunas and Amir Johnson combined for just four points in the first half, Casey said he gave the big men "a wake-up call" going into the second half and they responded at both ends of the court. "We reminded them theres more to the game than the offensive end," Casey said. "You can get rebounds. You can get back in transition. You can challenge shots and you can go vertical. "You can do a lot of different things other than make shots and I thought the second half (they) worked at it and got it done." 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