Coach Dave Tippett was hoping for an answer from his Stars players – and not just on the scoreboard.

Dallas flew out of Denver after a 3-1 loss Saturday night a team that was beat up, with Mike Modano, Matt Niskanen and Brenden Morrow all hobbled by big hits from Colorado Avalanche players.

And Tippett wasn't pleased.

"You look at last night's game and you had three guys laid out on the ice, and no response," Tippett said. "Tonight, we had response all over the place."

On Sunday, the Stars responded by delivering their own big hits and forcing defensemen Ruslan Salei and Jordan Leopold from the game in the first period.

"We were embarrassed by the game [Saturday]," said forward Steve Ott, whose shoulder check of Leopold against the boards resulted in a head injury and led Salei to respond with a fight. Salei then received an eye socket injury in the fight. "We brought our lunch pails and went to work, and we did it from the first shift."

Even skilled forwards Mike Modano and Brad Richards tried to throw hits. Brenden Morrow and Mattias Norstrom finished with five hits each, while Stephane Robidas had four hits and Ott three.

"Our third and fourth lines responded in a big way to what their guys had done," Modano said. "They set a very hard physical pace early, and we followed that."

Robidas said the Stars played an entirely different game, and that led to the hitting.

"Honestly, I think we played on our heels," he said of Saturday's game. "We were chasing the play, we were backing up, and that doesn't lead to a physical game. Today, we were on our toes, we were chasing the puck, we were getting into puck battles, and that just leads to hits."

Turco gets 30th win: Stars goalie Marty Turco won his 30th game. He has 30 or more wins in five consecutive seasons. That is second only to Martin Brodeur among active NHL goalies.

Turco also recorded his third shutout of the season and the 33rd of his career. Turco is the all-time leader in Stars history in shutouts. Ed Belfour had 27.

Briefly: Matt Niskanen missed the game with a sore foot. Tippett said Niskanen will probably be available for play on Thursday against Detroit. ... D Dan Jancevski was called up from the minors and played 7:55. ... Healthy scratches for the Stars were C Toby Petersen and LW Brad Winchester. ... C Joel Lundqvist and RW Krys Barch returned to the lineup. ... Mike Modano recorded his 750th and 751st assists of his career. ... Colorado was without forward Peter Forsberg, who suffered a groin injury on Saturday.