NHL Turco captures goalies' battle

Marty Turco bested former teammate Ed Belfour as Dallas beat Toronto 2-1.
DALLAS (AP) -- Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco made a prediction before facing former teammate Ed Belfour.
"I said before that the best-case scenario was a 2-1 win, and it came true," Turco said after his 22-save performance Friday night in the Stars' victory over Toronto.
Belfour also played well for the Maple Leafs in his first game against his former team since signing with Toronto, but the Stars got goals from slumping Pierre Turgeon and Jason Arnott.
"It feels good now that it's over," Turco said. "It meant a little more with Eddie back here."
Stars coach Dave Tippett said this was the type of game Turco needs to establish himself as an elite goalie.
"Any time you're put in a situation where there's more pressure than the norm, it's another notch in your belt," Tippett said. "There was a lot more hype about the goaltenders than the teams, and Marty handled it pretty well."
His best stop
Turco made his best stop of the night with 29 seconds left, coming up with an outstanding glove save to deny Bryan McCabe from 25 feet. Toronto had an extra attacker after Belfour skated to the bench with 57 seconds left.
"I wasn't in a great situation, but I had a good look at it and was ready," Turco said. "At that point it's all about reflexes and doing whatever it takes."
Belfour, who made 21 saves, was Dallas' starter for five seasons, backstopping the Stars' Stanley Cup run in 1999. But the Stars opted to pass on re-signing him as an unrestricted free agent over the summer, and that made Turco the starter.
A sellout crowd that included dozens of fans wearing old Belfour Stars jerseys cheered when he was introduced with Toronto's starters. Turco was greeted by a similar ovation.
"I had a lot of mixed emotions," Belfour said. "It was exciting to come back and it was nice to hear the fans' support. The fans have always been good to me here. I'll always remember the good times in Dallas and all the things we did and accomplished. It'll be a part of me for the rest of my life."
Turco said he and Belfour never exchanged any words, either before the game or in warm-ups, but Turco watched Belfour when the action was at the other end of the rink.
"I'm a fan of goaltenders and he's only 190 feet away so I watched him a little," said Turco, who wasn't friends with Belfour when they played together for two seasons. "But mostly I was concentrating on my job."
Josh Holden scored a second-period goal in his Maple Leafs debut.
Dallas improved to 5-0-0-1 at home and 5-2-2 in its last eight games overall.
Turgeon finds the net
Turgeon notched the only goal of the first period 2:13 after the opening faceoff, beating Belfour on a rebound to the stick side. It was Turgeon's third goal of the season.
The Stars had plenty of early energy, and that carried them to the early lead.
"We've talked about having a good start, especially at home," Tippett said. "You get early momentum and that pushes you along."
Arnott made it 2-0 at 3:52 of the second period with the help of Bill Guerin's setup. Guerin skated into the Toronto zone and was tied up by Toronto's Mikael Renberg, who was called for a delay penalty.
Guerin dropped a pass to Arnott, who beat Belfour from close range for his first goal of the season.
Holden scored his first goal for Toronto when he deflected Tom Fitzgerald's shot past Turco at 12:12 of the second period to cut the deficit to 2-1. That ended Turco's shutout streak of 103 minutes, 31 seconds.