Canucks defeat Stars, 2-1, and take 3-1 lead in series

The Vancouver Canucks may not have to worry about making another long flight to Dallas.

Trevor Linden shoveled a rebound past Marty Turco with 5:31 left in the third period and defenseman Willie Mitchell prevented a tie by sweeping a trickling puck off the goal line, giving the Canucks a 2-1 victory over the Stars on Tuesday night at Dallas.

Vancouver leads the Western Conference series, 3-1. The Canucks can advance to the second round -- and avoid a return trip to Texas -- with a victory Thursday at home.

Dallas is in jeopardy of being eliminated in a first-round series in five games for the third consecutive postseason.

A big part of the Stars’ problem has been an inability to win at home. This was their sixth consecutive home playoff loss covering those three playoffs.

“We’ve got to find a way,” Dallas captain Brenden Morrow said. “We’ve got to be a team that plays to win every one-on-one battle.

“Until that changes, I don’t think we’ll have success.... There were pucks laying around at our feet and those are pucks we have to come up with.”

Calgary 3, Detroit 2 -- Jarome Iginla scored the go-ahead goal at 9:21 of the third period, leading the Flames to victory at Calgary, Canada.

Matthew Lombardi and defenseman Mark Giordano scored power-play goals for Calgary, which avoided falling behind, 3-0, in the Western Conference series.

Game 4 will be Thursday night at Calgary. Kris Draper scored twice for the Red Wings.

New York Rangers 7, Atlanta 0 -- The Rangers scored three times in the first period at New York and breezed to a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference series. Michael Nylander scored three times for the Rangers.

Ottawa 2, Pittsburgh 1 -- Anton Volchenkov scored midway through the third period at Pittsburgh and the Senators took a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference series.