Friday April 24 8:30pm
The Dallas Stars must start to adjust to life without leading scorer Joe Nieuwendyk tonight in Game Two of their quarterfinal series with the San Jose Sharks. Nieuwendyk and Juha Lind scored 37 seconds apart early in the first period and Ed Belfour stopped 21 shots as the Stars topped the Sharks, 4-1, in Wednesday's costly series opener.
Nieuwendyk, who led Dallas with 69 points during the regular season, left in the first period with a right knee injury after he was checked heavily into the boards by San Jose defenseman Bryan Marchment. Nieuwendyk suffered a torn ACL and cartilage damage in his knee and will be sidelined at least two weeks.
Without Nieuwendyk, the Stars will rely even more on center Mike Modano to carry much of the offensive load. Also, left wing Greg Adams, who was a healthy scratch for Game One, could return to the lineup. Belfour, who played 13 games for the Sharks last season, was very sharp in goal in the opener, stopping 21 of 22 shots. He owns a career record of 36-29 in the postseason.
San Jose coach Darryl Sutter went with Mike Vernon, last season's Conn Smythe Trophy winner with the Detroit Red Wings, in Game One, but does have the option of switching to Kelly Hrudey tonight. Hrudey is 6-2 against Dallas as a member of the Sharks and 13-6-5 lifetime versus the Stars with a 2.72 goals-against average.
Game Three is Sunday afternoon in San Jose.
#2 COLORADO AVLANCHE vs #7 EDMONTON OILERS
Friday April 24 10:30pm
The Edmonton Oilers will try to take another step towards another first-round upset when they battle the Colorado Avalanche in a Western Conference quarterfinal tonight at McNichols Arena tonight. Boris Mironov scored with 5:09 remaining to cap a three-goal third period as Edmonton survived a late flurry and surprised Colorado, 3-2, in the Game One of their series Wednesday.
Bill Guerin and Dean McAmmond scored 80 seconds apart midway through the final period for Edmonton, which defeated heavily favored Dallas in the opening round of last year's playoffs.
Goaltender Curtis Joseph needs to continue his strong play. He turned aside 27 shots -- including six in the final 16 seconds -- of Wednesday's win. Peter Forsberg tallied both goals for Colorado, which lost for the first time in 24 games (17-1-6) when he scores. Colorado had been 12-1-2 in its previous 15 regular-season meetings with the Oilers.
Colorado will welcome back captain Joe Sakic into the lineup. Sakic received a one-game suspension for kneeing Detroit's Kris Draper on Saturday. The Avalanche captain missed 18 games earlier this season -- Colorado went 8-10 -- after spraining a left knee ligament in the Olympics.
Claude Lemieux has 70 career playoff goals and needs one more to move past the retired Mario Lemieux and Esa Tikkanen, who is playing for Washington, in ninth place on the all-time list.
Game Three is at Edmonton on Sunday.
#3 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #6 PHOENIX COYOTES
Friday April 24 7:30pm
After coasting to victory in Game One, the Detroit Red Wings will look for a repeat performance tonight when they continue their Western Conference quarterfinal series with the Phoenix Coyotes. Enforcer Joe Kocur recorded his first two-goal game in more than six years and the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings cruised to a 6-3 victory over the Coyotes on Wednesday.
The Red Wings, who are trying to become the first repeat champions since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991-92, dominated the Coyotes throughout, despite playing without injured regulars Brendan Shanahan, Doug Brown, Brent Gilchrist and Kris Draper.
Shanahan, who led Detroit with 28 goals, is listed as day-to-day with back spasms and his status for tonight is uncertain. Brown is out indefinitely, Gilchrist will not play in this series and Draper is listed as day-to-day. Including the regular season, the Red Wings are 8-0-2 in their last 10 home games.
Keep an eye on Sergei Fedorov throughout this series. The Red Wings center will earn a $12 million bonus if his club reaches the Western Conference finals.
After getting hammered in Game One, the Coyotes will have to play without their best two-way defenseman tonight. Teppo Numminen left Wednesday's game in the second period with a groin strain and is expected to miss one week.
Phoenix also needs a much better showing from goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, who was pulled after allowing five goals on 21 shots. He is 5-9 lifetime in the postseason.
Game Three is Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.
#4 ST. LOUIS BLUES vs #5 L.A. KINGS
Saturday April 25 7:30pm
After rolling in Game One of the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series, the St. Louis Blues will try to go up 2-0 when they take on the Los Angeles Kings tonight at the Kiel Center. Geoff Courtnall had a goal and five assists as the Blues rewrote the record book with an 8-3 drubbing of the Kings in Thursday's series opener. Brett Hull added a goal and three assists and Pavol Demitra, Jim Campbell and Pierre Turgeon each scored twice for St. Louis, which won its fifth straight playoff game from Los Angeles. The Blues outscored the Kings, 16-5, during a four-game sweep in the 1969 West Division semifinals.
The Blues converted on 3-of-11 power-play chances in the opener, while killing off all eight of Los Angeles' power plays.
St. Louis goalie Grant Fuhr could move into sole possession of third place with 81 playoff wins should he and the Blues be victorious tonight. He would move ahead of Ken Dryden. Los Angeles goalie Stephane Fiset will have bounce back from Thursday's game. He allowed five goals on 27 shots before being replaced by rookie Jamie Storr.
Craig Johnson, Glenn Murray and Luc Robitaille scored for the Kings in the opener.
Game Three is Monday in Los Angeles.
