Thursday May 7 8pm
The top-seeded Dallas Stars will have revenge on their minds tonight when they begin the Western Conference semifinals against the team that eliminated them last season -- the Edmonton Oilers.
Last spring, the Stars rolled into the playoffs as Central Division champions, only to lose to Edmonton when Todd Marchant scored on a breakaway in overtime in the decisive seventh game of their quarterfinal series.
While the revenge factor may be in the back of the minds of the Stars, their more immediate task will be solving goaltender Curtis Joseph. "Cujo" blanked the Colorado Avalanche for the final eight periods of their conference quarterfinal series as the Oilers became just the 14th team in NHL history to rally from a three games to one deficit.
If Joseph continues his scoreless streak against Dallas tonight, he would become the first goaltender in more than 50 years to record three straight playoff shutouts. The Stars already know how Joseph can dominate a series -- he shut them out twice last year.
Besides Joseph, the Oilers also feature arguably the most talented defensive unit in the league. The unit was bolstered tremendously with the acquisitions of Roman Hamrlik from Tampa Bay and Janne Niinimaa from Philadelphia. Throw in Boris Mironov and that makes three defensemen who combined for four goals and nine assists against the Avalanche.
The win over the San Jose Sharks in the quarterfinals was the Stars' first victory in a postseason series since 1994. They have not reached the conference finals since an improbable trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1991 while based in Minnesota.
Dallas will be without its leading scorer, Joe Nieuwendyk, who is expected to miss the rest of the playoffs with a torn ACL and cartilage damage in his right knee. Nieuwendyk's injury is not the only one of concern to Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock. Left wing Greg Adams' status for this series is uncertain and right wing Jere Lehtinen is not expected to play tonight.
Edmonton proved last year that the regular season means nothing between these teams. The Oilers eliminated Dallas after losing all four meetings during the season. And while Edmonton is 1-8-1 all-time in Dallas, it won three times at Reunion Arena in the playoffs, including Game Seven.
Dallas hosts Game Two on Saturday.
#3 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #4 ST. LOUIS BLUES
Friday May 8 7:30pm
The St. Louis Blues will be playing for the first time in over a week tonight when they open their Western Conference semifinal series with the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.
The Blues have been idle since April 29th, when they completed a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Kings. It was the only sweep of the first round and propelled St. Louis into the conference semifinals for the second time in five years. Awaiting them are a familiar opponent in the Red Wings, who have battled the Blues in the playoffs each of the last three years.
St. Louis has overachieved all season under coach Joel Quenneville and was 3-2-1 against Detroit in 1997-98, including a 3-0 mark at home. But the Red Wings hold home-ice advantage and scored more goals, 24, in the first round than anyone.
Although they played just four games in the conference quarterfinals, the Blues got goals from nine different players, including three apiece from Jim Campbell, Pavol Demitra and Pierre Turgeon. Left wing Geoff Courtnall had a goal and six assists in the first round, including a record six points in Game One, and right wing Brett Hull contributed two goals and three assists.
The St. Louis defense, featuring Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis and Steve Duchesne, plays well at both ends of the ice, although the trio combined for only one goal against the Kings.
Goaltending is always a key in the playoffs and this series will be no different. Grant Fuhr of the Blues has been through the wars, ranking second among active goalies in career playoff wins. He allowed eight goals in the conference quarterfinals, twice limiting the inexperienced Kings to one goal. But Detroit is a much more explosive club and Fuhr should have his hands full.
The Red Wings overwhelmed the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round, taking the final two games by a combined score of 8-3. Thirteen different players scored goals in the series for Detroit, which played at least one game in the opening round without key contributors like Brendan Shanahan, Kris Draper, Brent Gilchrist and Doug Brown. All but Brown returned before the series ended.
Leading the way for Detroit has been Sergei Fedorov, who has more incentive to excel in this series than anyone. Fedorov, who led all scorers with six goals in the first round, stands to collect a $12 million bonus if the Red Wings return to the Western Conference finals.
Fedorov is one of several weapons at coach Scotty Bowman's disposal that should give St. Louis headaches. Veteran Steve Yzerman, whose overtime goal in Game Seven eliminated the Blues two years ago, had a goal and six assists against Phoenix and remains his team's emotional leader. Shanahan came alive in Game Six, scoring a pair of power-play goals against the Coyotes, while Vyacheslav Kozlov had two goals and three assists in the series.
Game Two is Sunday afternoon in Detroit.
