by Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP

Dallas Stars center Mike Modano, center, is congratulated by teammate Philippe Boucher, right, after his second goal of the game against the San Jose Sharks in the first period of a NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007. With the goal, Modano becomes the NHL's all time American-born leading scorer. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By The Associated Press

Mike Modano got the record over with early against the San Jose Sharks, and Marty Turco took care of the rest.

Modano scored two goals in the first 4:24 to surpass Phil Housley's career record for points by a U.S.-born player, and the Dallas Stars beat the Sharks 3-1 Wednesday night.

Modano, the 37-year-old Michigan native who has been the star of the Stars for nearly two decades in Minnesota and Dallas, tied the mark with a long slap shot past Evgeni Nabokov just 2:19 in. The speedy center added a short-handed goal moments later, earning grudging applause from the Shark Tank crowd for the longtime foe's latest remarkable feat.

Modano thought he would reach the mark much earlier in the season, even gathering his family and friends in Dallas for a few fruitless home games. He felt elation mixed with relief when he finally held the record-setting puck in front of a banner printed up by the Stars marking the occasion.

"The longer it's drawn out, the more it's forced me to appreciate the situation and enjoy it, start having some fun," Modano said. "I think it's kind of dragged me down a little bit emotionally thinking about it every night, going out there and trying to make it happen. The two tonight couldn't have been written up any better with the first two shots, two goals."

Steve Ott also scored for the Stars, who were outshot 39-12 -- but Turco made 38 saves in Dallas' fourth straight victory in San Jose.

Matt Carle scored and Nabokov made just nine saves for the Sharks, who have lost four of their conference-low five home games despite maddeningly huge shot advantages. The Sharks have 64 shots more than their opponents in those four losses.

But Joe Thornton and his teammates couldn't score -- not like Modano.

The six-time All-Star has 1,233 points in 1,253 regular-season games -- 242 games fewer than Housley played. Modano became the American career goal-scoring leader March 17, and he extended his record to 511 goals with his two quick tallies.

After Modano earned two ovations from the San Jose crowd, the rest of the night belonged to Turco and the Dallas defense. The Sharks had 25 shots but just one goal in the first two periods, and the Stars blocked an astonishing 13 more shot attempts.