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May 16--FRISCO -- Putting speedy youngsters Loui Eriksson, Toby Petersen and Joel Lundqvist on the same line Wednesday wasn't the only tinkering Stars coach Dave Tippett did in Game 4.
Tippett also moved Mike Modano from center to right wing on a line with Brad Richards and Niklas Hagman. And about midway through the game, Tippett made another adjustment.
He moved scrappy Steve Ott up from the fourth line, where he had been centering for Brad Winchester and Krystofer Barch, to join the Stars' talented duo of captain Brenden Morrow and leading scorer Mike Ribeiro.
"It's a great opportunity to be out there with those guys," Ott said.
Ott replaced Antti Miettinen, who logged only 9:23 of ice time and didn't play in much of the second half of the game because of what Tippett called a "coach's decision."
All three line changes paid dividends. Eriksson scored the Stars' first goal late in the second period, and his line limited the Red Wings' super line of Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom to just one goal in the 3-1 victory.
Modano scored the game-winning goal in the third period. Ott was on the ice for Morrow's goal late in the third period that put the game away.
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock can keep his line of Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom away from the Stars' line of Eriksson-Petersen-Lundqvist in Game 5 on Saturday in Detroit if he wishes because he'll get the last line adjustment each shift with the home-ice advantage.
Tippett didn't commit to keeping the lines the same for Game 5 but liked what he saw from each new group.
"We'll tinker around, find ways to get things that we'd like to see," Tippett said. "You're trying to get as many situations as you can that would be, not necessarily an advantage, but to try to neutralize."
Injured Stars still a no-go: Tippett said Thursday that Jere Lehtinen (leg), Stu Barnes (concussion-like symptoms) and Philippe Boucher (hip strain) aren't ready to return and won't play in Game 5.
Tippett also said defenseman Mark Fistric, who hasn't played since Game 1 of the series, has mono and won't travel to Detroit for Game 5. Fistric warmed up with the team before Game 3 on Monday at home but wasn't in the lineup.
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