Dallas Stars coach Dave Tippett united Mike Modano and Brad Richards on a top line for the first time since the Stars acquired Richards from the Lightning on Feb. 26 – and the duo responded with two points each and helped the Stars to a 3-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday at American Airlines Center.

"You want to put the onus on your best players," Tippett said of the change of philosophy from previous games, when he tried to spread out his talent. "You want your leaders to step up and take charge, and they did that tonight, right from Marty [Turco] to Mo's line ... and I also thought [Mattias] Norstrom and [Stephane] Robidas were excellent, too."

Norstrom and Robidas locked down the defense and helped the Stars allow only one shot on goal in the first period while building a 2-0 lead. Turco stopped 19 shots and earned his 33rd career shutout.

The combination of improved play at all three levels helped the Stars (42-25-5, 89 points) stop a three-game losing streak and avenge a tough loss to the same Colorado team Saturday in Denver. Dallas gave up a 1-0 third-period lead in that game and was pushed around physically.

"We talked in our meeting about how we needed to respond and what we needed to do as a team," said captain Brenden Morrow, who played on the line with Modano and Richards. "And we went out and came together as a team and did what we needed to do."

Of course, coming together as a line was a little more difficult. The Stars had off-ice workouts in the morning, so Morrow said the trio took three line rushes in the pre-game skate and then jumped out together for the first time in their lives.

AP

Dallas Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas (center) celebrates his goal with Brad Richards (left) and Nicklas Grossman.

"Sometimes, you just have to go out and let things happen," he said.

On one of their first shifts together, the trio passed the puck smartly on a cycle and then fed out to Robidas at the point. Robidas buried a shot through a Morrow screen for a 2-0 lead at the 5:25 mark.

Stu Barnes had scored on a rebound shot just as a power play had ended at the 3:56 mark to give Dallas the early lead. After sitting on a one-goal lead Saturday, the effort by the Modano line made a statement that the Stars were going to play at a different intensity level.

"I think as a team, we knew we needed to be more intense, and as a line, it just seemed to happen," Modano said. "We were able to get the puck defensively and we were able to play with the puck offensively. I think that was the key for us. We made some hard skill plays, and we kept the puck away from them."

That, in concept, is exactly why a Morrow-Modano-Richards line could work well. While Modano and Richards are both skilled players who are not known as snipers, they can create opportunities where their skill can lead to easy goals.

That happened in the second period when the trio burst into the offensive zone on an odd-man rush and Morrow fed Richards on the right wing for a shot that caught Colorado goalie Jose Theodore off guard. Richards, who is left-handed, was asked to play the right wing and scored from the right side.

"I like playing the off-wing, so I can see the ice better," he said. "It worked out good tonight."

Will it continue? That's something only Tippett will know the answer to.

"Just like after the Chicago game, I wouldn't get all giddy about it," Tippett said of Richards' five-assist debut against the Blackhawks that preceded the three-game losing streak.

"It's a good lesson for our team on how hard we have to compete to be successful."