Mike Ribeiro scored once and added four assists to lead the Dallas Stars to a 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum Thursday. Ribeiro's linemates also had big games with Loui Eriksson scoring twice and Brenden Morrow adding a goal and two assists.

Special teams were a key difference between the teams. The Stars were officially 2-for-6 although they scored another goal just as a power play expired. The Islanders were 1-for-6 with the man advantage but failed to convert a key 5-on-3 power play which lasted a full two minutes early in the second period although they did hit two posts and a cross bar during that flurry.

The outcome was decided in the first period when the Stars jumped out to a quick lead. After Sean Avery drew a penalty on Kyle Okposo at the 2:04 mark of the game, the Dallas power play went to work. Ribeiro made the first of his pretty passes of the night, feathering the puck from the top of the right circle to Eriksson who was alone to the left of the crease for an easy tip-in and a 1-0 Stars' lead.

The visitors went up 2-0 on a 2-on-1 break at even strength which led to an easy tip in for Morrow at 14:13. Dallas controlled the puck for most of the second half of the period, at one point controlling the puck in the New York zone for nearly a minute and a half at even strength. The Isles had six giveaways in the first period while Dallas had just one.

Eriksson's first goal of the night made it 3-0 just as a Stars' power play expired with just 1:38 left in the opening stanza. Ribeiro knocked down a clearing attempt by Bruno Gervais just inside the blue line, deked a defenseman and found Eriksson who scored on a backhander from the slot.

A double minor against Avery early in the second period gave the Isles a chance to get back into the game with a two-minute 5-on-3 advantage. New York put pressure on the net but couldn't quite put the puck behind Stars' goalie, Marty Turco. Mark Streit and Doug Weight heard the ping of the post on back-to-back shots and the puck swept across the goal line but never crossed over it, a fact confirmed by replay.

Isles' coach Scott Gordon thought the 5-on-3 was a turning point. "It set up for a big situation for us," said Gordon, "but the fact the puck didn't cross the goal line was the most important part."

Although Bill Guerin scored on a pretty odd-man rush set up by Sean Bergenheim midway through the game, the Stars got goals by Krystofer Barch and Ribeiro late in the third to take a commanding 5-1 lead. Third period goals by Streit and Jonathan Sim made the score appear closer than the game was.

"We were in the penalty box too much," a frustrated Isles' captain, Bill Guerin said. "Our penalty kill wasn’t as sharp as it needed to be."

Despite the loss, Gordon saw improvement in his team's play. "I think the biggest thing is I saw a better job on our fore-check," Gordon explained. "We saw some sustained pressure. We created some turnovers. We didn't allow them to make plays. We did that with a lot more consistency than we had in the Florida game. To me, that's an encouraging sign."

The Islanders fell to 2-4-0 on the season. Their next two games will be at the Nassau Coliseum with the Hurricanes coming to town Saturday before the first meeting of the season against the Rangers coming on Monday night.

NOTES

The Islanders got defenseman Chris Campoli back into the lineup for the first time this season but lost veteran blueliner, Brendan Witt midway through the first period when he had an inadvertent knee-on-knee collision with Barch. Witt was diagnosed with a "lower body injury" and did not return. He will be evaluated by team doctors Friday and his status for Saturday's game against Carolina is uncertain.

Streit finished the game with three points (1G, 2A) for the Islanders.

With Campoli back in the lineup, Jack Hillen was a healthy scratch for New York.

Forward Robert Parrish signed a 25-game tryout contract with the Isles' AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. Parrish was with the Isles from 2000-06. He spent last season with the Minnesota Wild and scored 30 points in 66 games.