Saturday May 2nd 9pm
The Dallas Stars try to avoid a decisive seventh game and advance to the second round for the first time in four seasons when they face off against the San Jose Sharks tonight. Mike Modano scored his second goal of the game amid controversy with 8:52 remaining as top-seeded Dallas pushed San Jose to the brink of elimination with a 3-2 victory Thursday in Game Five of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
A win tonight may erase last year's sting, when heavily favored Dallas was eliminated in the first round by the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.
But if the Stars are to advance, they are going to need to find a way to put the puck in the net on the road. The Stars have been limited to one goal in 126 minutes, 41 seconds in the two playoff games at San Jose. John MacLean and Ron Sutter set a San Jose playoff record with goals eight seconds apart midway through the second period of Thursday's loss. The Sharks need to improve their scoring on the power play to remain alive. San Jose is 4-for-32 with the man advantage in the series.
Bernie Nicholls, a veteran of 116 playoff games, has at least one assist in four straight games for the Sharks. San Jose has outscored Dallas, 5-1, in its two home games in the series.
Game Seven, if necessary, would be played Monday night in Dallas.
#2 COLORADO AVLANCHE vs #7 EDMONTON OILERS
Saturday May 2nd 10:30pm
The Edmonton Oilers, fresh off a third-period comeback in Game Five, try to keep the momentum and force a decisive seventh game tonight when they return home to battle the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference quarterfinals. Bill Guerin scored his fifth goal of the series and Mike Grier added his first two tallies of the postseason as Edmonton rallied for a 3-2 win in Colorado on Thursday.
Guerin, center Doug Weight and defensemen Boris Mironov and Roman Hamrlik have combined for eight goals and 11 assists, while the remainder of the team has managed just five goals and 13 assists.
As a seventh seed in the playoffs last season, the Oilers upended the heavily favored Dallas Stars before being eliminated by the Avalanche in the next round. Patrick Roy, the all-time winningest goaltender in the playoffs, needs one more win for 100 in his career. He has 57 losses. Roy has stopped 139-of-151 shots in the series for a .921 save percentage.
Colorado's Peter Forsberg, who was held without a point in the Game Five loss, is the leading scorer in the playoffs with six goals and five assists.
Game Seven, if necessary, is scheduled for Monday night in Edmonton.
#3 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #6 PHOENIX COYOTES
Sunday May 2nd
The value of using four lines is paying off for Scotty Bowman
and the Detroit Red Wings.
After falling behind two games to one to the sixth-seeded
Phoenix Coyotes, the Red Wings have won the last two games and
shoot for the clincher this afternoon in Phoenix. Game Six was
originally scheduled for Saturday night, but was changed to
today to accommodate the Fox Network.
Detroit moved within one win of the Western Conference
semifinals and a possible showdown with the hated Colorado
Avalanche after posting a 3-1 victory over the Coyotes in Game
Five on Thursday night at Detroit. However, since the NHL
re-seeds after each playoff round, the conference semifinal
matchups remain uncertain.
Vyacheslav Kozlov and Tomas Holmstrom each had a goal and an
assist in Detroit's win on Thursday. Sergei Fedorov, who
receives a $12 million bonus if the Red Wings make the
conference finals, scored the other goal. It was the fifth goal
of the playoffs for Fedorov, who leads the Wings with sixpoints.
Phoenix was forced to give backup goaltender Jimmy Waite his
first career playoff start since Nikolai Khabibulin suffered a
slightly pulled groin in Game Four. Waite, who had 24 saves, is
expected to start again on Sunday.
After allowing Rick Tocchet's goal in the opening period, Chris
Osgood stopped all 11 shots over the final two periods, but was
not very busy. The Coyotes went without a shot over a combined
span of 14:45 that bridged the second and third periods. Osgood
finished with 17 saves. It was the sixth goal of the postseason
for Tocchet, tying him with Colorado's Peter Forsberg for the
playoff lead.
Veteran defenseman Gerald Diduck had a rough Game Five for the
Coyotes. Diduck turned the wrong way and accidently bumped into
defense partner Keith Carney at the blue line while Kozlov
skated in untouched and whipped a wrist shot over Waite's left
shoulder late in the first period to give Detroit a 2-1 lead.
Diduck was also victimized on Fedorov's goal early in the second
period. Fedorov skated through the right faceoff circle and
faked a slap shot, causing Diduck to slide by, then moved into
the slot and held the puck before scoring under a diving Waite.
Kozlov and Nicklas Lidstrom each have two goals and three
assists for the Red Wings in the series.
Tocchet and Jeremy Roenick are tied for the team lead with seven
points. Roenick has four goals and three assists, while Keith
Tkachuk has two goals and three assists.
Detroit went scoreless on six power-play opportunities in Game
Five and is 3-for-31 in the series. The Coyotes were 1-for-6
with the man advantage and are 5-for-28 overall.
