Hull Makes Most Of Reunion
For 10 seasons, Brett Hull starred for the St. Louis Blues. On Tuesday night, he was on the other side.
Hull scored twice in his first regular-season game against his former St. Louis teammates, helping the Dallas Stars to a 7-3 victory over the Blues.
"It was very strange to play against those guys," Hull said. "It's hard to play against a bunch of guys after you've battled with them for all those years. I was nervous before the game and had trouble sleeping. I'm glad it's over."
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Hull's power play deflection late in the first period put the Stars in front 3-2. He added his eighth goal on a breakaway late in the second period to push Dallas' advantage to 6-3.
Hull's teammates knew the game would be special, especially after Hull missed the Stars' first trip to St. Louis on Nov. 21 due to a groin injury. Hull signed a three-year, $17 million free agent deal with the Stars over the summer and was anxious to get the first meeting behind him.
"He was excited to play," said linemate Mike Modano. "He was looking forward to it."
Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said Hull's presence on the ice seemed to distract the Blues.
The Stars were pleased to welcome back Hull, who had missed seven of the previous eight games due to the groin injury.
"Because
it was St. Louis, it was special and our players recognized it," Hitchcock said. "Hull's a distraction for the other team because it could be one shot and in." 
Dallas winger Brett Hull celebrates one of his two goals against his former team, the St. Louis Blues. FONT size=-3> (AP)
Brian Skrudland's second-period goal snapped a 3-3 tie to give the Stars the lead for good as Dallas ran its unbeaten streak to six (4-0-2) and improved to 11-2-2 at home.
Joe Nieuwendyk also had two goals as the Stars had their biggest scoring outburst in exactly a year. On Dec. 15, 1997, the Stars beat the Buffalo Sabres 8-4.
The Blues, 0-4-2 in their last six games, tried not to get caught up in the Hull hoopla. They need to win against anybody.
"We had breakdowns, and they cost us goals," St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger said. "It's frustrating to lose to them because they're a rival in our conference. This is a game we've got to win."
Dallas took the lead on Grant Marshall's deflection at 3:49 of the first period, Marshall's seventh. Pat Verbeek added his second goal in as many games, and sixth of the season, at 10:12 of the first for a 2-0 lead.
But St. Louis answered at 14:15 as Mike Eastwood popped a sharp-angle rebound past Stars goalie Ed Belfour for his fourth goal.
Belfour, who had played well to that point, angrily swatted the crossbar with his stick, then slashed Blues forward Kelly Chase as Chase skated toward the Blues bench, earning Belfour a two-minute penalty.
St. Louis cashed in 34 seconds later when Terry Yake knocked a loose puck past Belfour, Yake's second, to tie the game at 2.
Hull, who had missed seven of the previous eight games with a strained groin, put the Stars in front 3-2 at 19:18 of the first period.
St. Louis drew even at 3 on Pascal Rheaume's steal and solo rush at 5:07 of the second period, Rheaume's second. Skrudland's third goal at 7:46 of the second period gave the Stars the lead for good, 4-3.
Nieuwendyk added his seventh at 17:11 , ending the night for St. Louis starting goaltender Jamie McLennan. Hull added his second of the game at 17:56 of the second period on the first shot faced by Grant Fuhr to extend Dallas' lead to 6-3.
Nieuwendyk's power play goal at 9:47 of the third period extended Dallas' advantage to 7-3.
The Blues were without center Pierre Turgeon, out for four to six weeks due to a fractured bone in his hand. Turgeon, St. Louis' No. 2 scorer with 22 points, suffered the injury in Monday night's scoreless tie with the Colorado Avalanche.
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