SJS vs DAL

Sergei Zubov has returned to play for the first time since Jan. 17. He is in the lineup for the Stars in Game 2 against the Sharks.

Zubov has been battling, foot, groin and sports hernia injuries and had the special procedure to repair his sports hernia April 3 in Munich. The procedure, done by specialist Dr. Ulrike Muschaweck, has allowed Zubov to return to play in less than four weeks. That's an amazing recovery time.

"She's good, that's for sure," Zubov said.

The Stars said they were looking forward to the return of Zubov

"Obviously we've missed his puck play," said centre Mike Modano. "There's a deliberate system to our play with our defence. It's usually take the first play and get the puck moving."

Zubov, who says his sanctuary is on the ice, was very excited about returning. His longest injury stretch in his career before this one was nine games.

"This is the longest I've been out of the lineup in my career. It's tough; tough to handle, tough to go through,'' he said. "It makes me look forward to getting back."

When asked what was the one thing he couldn't do on the ice, Zubov quipped: "Go back to my 20s.''

The Stars used seven defencemen and scratched centre Toby Petersen. They then rotated Mike Modano and Brad Richards on the fourth line with wingers Niklas Hagman and Antti Miettinen.

The Stars lines were:

Brenden Morrow-Mike Ribeiro-Jere Lehtinen
Joel Lundqvist-Brad Richards-Loui Eriksson
Steve Ott-Mike Modano-Stu Barnes
Niklas Hagman-Brad Richards/Mike Modano-Antti Miettinen

Nicklas Grossman-Stephane Robidas
Matt Niskanen-Sergei Zubov
Mark Fistric-Trevor Daley
Mattias Norstrom

The Sharks were sticking with:

Milan Michalek-Joe Thornton-Jonathan Cheechoo
Patrick Marleau-Joe Pavelski-Ryan Clowe
Patrick Rismiller-Torrey Mitchell-Mike Grier
Jeremy Roenick-Marcel Goc-Devin Setoguchi

They juggled their defencemen a lot and had:

Craig Rivet-Brian Campbell
Douglas Murray-Matt Carle
Marc-Edouard Vlasic-Christian Ehrhoff

Ron Wilson's off-day call to attention on Marty Turco and his ``diving'' paid off in the first period as Turco was whistled for an interference call and also was warned by the officials for knocking the net off its moorings.