ANA vs DAL

DALLAS - The Dallas Stars found out before Game 4 that Philippe Boucher (lower body injury) would join fellow all-star defenceman Sergei Zubov (sports hernia) on the sidelines for at least a week - meaning the rest of Dallas' first round playoff series with Anaheim.

It was the kind of news that would have seemingly broken this mentally fragile team a couple of weeks ago. But on Thursday, it only hardened their resolve.

Using three rookie defencemen - Matt Niskanen, Nicklas Grossman and late addition Mark Fistric - the Stars fought past the Ducks, 3-1, and took a 3-1 lead in their best-of- seven series.

The two teams flew to California after the game, and the Stars will have the chance to close out their first series win since 2003 on Friday night at Honda Center in Anaheim in a game that starts at 10:30 p.m. ET.

"Everybody wanted to come out strong after the other night," said veteran forward Stu Barnes, who had a goal and an assist. "We played better all around and got an early goal. The defence did a great job holding them off, and Marty (Turco) was great. We have to play complete games and not give Anaheim anything. We need to make sure we're at our best tomorrow night."

Turco was certainly at his best Thursday. He stopped 27 shots and allowed the Ducks' only goal with 7.6 seconds left in the game.

"Tonight I felt really good,'' Turco said. "I had an opportunity to see all the shots that came my way. There were some anxious, scrambly moments in the second period, but the guys were doing all they could to help me.''

Turco now has a 1.76 goals-against average in the series and a .920 save percentage. Over his last 10 playoff games, he has a 1.44 GAA with four shutouts.

"Marty's going to have to be very, very good for our team to be successful. I think you saw how good he can be tonight," Stars coach Dave Tippett said.

"Our group is going to have to continue to work well in front of him. When he's playing like that, I like what we do in front of him."

The defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks were shaken after the loss. It was the first time the home team has won in the series and only the second victory for the Stars in their last nine playoff games on home ice. Anaheim got winger Corey Perry back from a lacerated tendon in his leg, but the 22-year-old was only able to play 12:13.

"I thought he was a little rusty, but I thought the more he played, he showed the ability to get back in it,'' Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "You run a dangerous slope in trying to play a guy like that a bunch of minutes.''

The Ducks played well, out-shot the Stars 28-20, and simply made a few bad mistakes. Loui Eriksson stole a Sean O'Donnell pass to feed Joel Lundqvist on the first goal, and Stu Barnes stole a puck from Kent Huskins to set up Dallas' third goal.

"It's a challenge but the reality is we have got to win the next game and then focus on the next one after that," said Ducks goal Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

"We can't think about what it's going to take to win the series. We have got to think about what it's going to take to win the next game. They are outplaying us it seems and when they have a chance, they seem to bury it, which is not ok. We haven't played to the level we need to be successful."

Because of the back-to-back games, neither team is expected to skate Friday. Both coaches also were coy about getting fresh legs into the lineup. They seemed to like the lineups that played Thursday.

Dallas has lost in the first round for each of the previous three seasons and lost in the second round in 2003. They were 5-10 in all playoff games at American Airlines Center before Thursday's win. So getting on the doorstep of a first-round victory against a Pacific Division rival like Anaheim is an exciting challenge.

When asked if his team finally has the killer instinct, Tippett said he wanted to see a little more.

"Time will tell,'' Tippett said. "We don't have a ton of playoff experience, but the strength is in our group. We'll go in there and compete hard. Our goal is to win one of the next three games.''

Only 20 out of 219 teams (9.1 percent) down 3-1 in a best-of-seven series in the NHL have come back to win.