1. Joe Thornton, San Jose: Dazzling display of dissecting the Stars defense for a goal and two assists.

2. Mike Modano, Stars: Delivered tying goal early in the third period and won nine of 11 faceoffs.

3. Patrick Marleau, San Jose: Finished Thornton's blind backhand pass in the second period for his first point in six games.

1st: San Jose dominated the closing minutes and took the lead on a power-play goal. After Mattias Norstrom was whistled for holding, the Sharks broke through. Jonathan Cheechoo scored off the skate of Stars defenseman Nicklas Grossman on an attempted pass across the crease. The puck struck Grossman and deflected past goalie Marty Turco. The Sharks had seven of the final eight shots.

San Jose 1, Stars 0

2nd: The Stars briefly forged a tie when Trevor Daley rushed up ice and beat San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov from the top of the right circle. Nabokov was handcuffed by Daley's wrist shot. Less than three minutes later, the Sharks regained the lead. Joe Thornton's blind cross-ice backhand pass found Patrick Marleau, who beat Turco with a one-timer.

San Jose 2, Stars 1

3rd: Mike Modano came close to a tying goal early in the period on a backhand attempt and then delivered a tying goal for the Stars. He took a pass from Loui Eriksson and then scored from the side on Nabokov, who was unable to recover in time. But Thornton responded later in the period, dumping the puck perfectly into the Stars zone and taking a return pass from Milan Michalek for a 3-2 lead. The Stars were unable to convert a late power-play, including a 5-on-3.

San Jose 3, Stars 2