LOS ANGELES (AP) _ The Dallas Stars tried a different approach in goal and skated off with a win.
Mike Modano scored twice for his first multigoal game of the season and Dan Ellis made 25 saves in his NHL debut to lead the Dallas Stars to a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
``It's a dream come true, something you look forward to all your life,'' Ellis said. ``To get a win is an unbelievable feeling.''
Ellis saw his first action since being recalled from Utah of the AHL on Feb. 9, snapping a streak of 31 consecutive starts by Marty Turco.
``He's got real good poise and there is just something about him that our guys knew,'' Dallas coach Dave Tippett said of Ellis. ``He was solid. Basically, you get a win and that's a great way to start.''
Modano had two goals within a 5:01 span of the second period to end a six-game scoreless stretch and complete a three-game road successfully.
``It was a good way to finish, a good note,'' Modano said. ``We have three weeks at home which is very rare these days.''
Jere Lehtinen and Brenden Morrow also scored for the Stars, who won for the first time in four games (1-2-1) since the All-Star break. They moved past the Kings into sixth place in the Western Conference.
Luc Robitaille, Derek Armstrong and Sean Avery scored for the Kings, winless in five games.
``We played well but made some mental errors,'' Robitaille said. ``It's like a playoff game and you can't afford to make mistakes like that.''
After Robitaille put the Kings ahead 1-0 in the first period, Modano scored his first goal by blasting a slap shot past Roman Cechmanek from the right circle at 3:20 of the second.
Modano then came down the left wing and punched in a rebound of his own shot to give the Stars a 2-1 lead five minutes later.
``The puck seemed to have eyes there, it's good to get a little weight off your shoulder,'' said Modano, who had six multigoal games last season.
Lehtinen added a power-play goal to make it 3-1 before Armstrong cut into the lead with his 11th goal.
Morrow added a power-play goal in the third to secure the win.
``This game was not about our work ethic or our determination,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``We were not as smart as we needed to be.''
Avery drew the Kings within 4-3 with 5:18 to play.
