Saturday May 9 7:30pm
DALLAS (AP) -- Kelly Buchberger doesn't want to get angry, just even.
With his Edmonton teammates decrying Grant Marshall's hit that left his right eye swollen shut, the Oilers' captain stressed the need to remain focused on hockey in tonight's playoff game against the Dallas Stars.
"We still have to be disciplined and stay out of the penalty box," Buchberger said.
Marshall threw the butt end of his stick into Buchberger's eye with 6:16 remaning in the opener of the Western Conference semifinal series Thursday night, won 3-1 by the Stars. Marshall drew a game misconduct and a five-minute major penalty for elbowing. And when the league slapped Marshall with only a $1,000 fine, Buchberger chalked it up to playoff hockey.
"Things are called a little differently," he said.
Buchberger skated at Friday's practice and said he will play in tonight's game. So will Marshall, who might be skating with an invisible bullseye on his back when he steps on the ice for Game 2 at Reunion Arena.
"I didn't have an intent to hurt anybody. It was just a situation where tempers got a little heated on my part and I overreacted," Marshall said of his bludgeoning check. "I obviously got a little high on his head."
Oilers coach Ron Low disagreed vehemently, saying "if that's not intent to injure, I don't know what is."
The Oilers aren't the only ones who will try to stay out of the penalty box tonight. The Stars are mindful that Marshall's hit forced them to play shorthanded for five minutes late in the game while trying to preserve a two-goal lead.
"I thought that we were on edge trying to kill off a five-minue penalty that late in the game," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "It's something that we don't want to have happen."
Regardless, the Oilers were unable to capitalize on the power play. It punctuated an evening where they had more shots than the Stars -- but couldn't get past goaltender Ed Belfour more than once in 31 tries.
By contrast, the Stars scored quickly on Edmonton's Curtis Joseph, who had a 166-minute, 54-second scoreless streak broken on a power-play goal by Sergei Zubov 3:14 into the game.
Though only getting 14 shots on Joseph, the Stars scored three times on the goaltender who is largely credited with eliminating them in the first round of last year's playoffs.
Marshall's hit aside, the Stars and Oilers already had a rivalry rife with mutual dislike. Hitchcock's comment earlier this season that former Oiler Bryan Marchment employed "bush-league tactics" in injuring both Mike Modano and Greg Adams with hits in December became a slur against the entire Oilers organization in coach Ron Low's ears.
Low responded by telling his team: "If the Fat Man wants us! He's got us!" right after their first-round series win over Colorado.
Besides, Buchberger has a history with the Stars, having fought Marshall and four times tangled with Stars captain Derian Hatcher.
And now, the Oilers have a reason to avenge a hit that the league barely punished.
"Obviously, it was a deliberate thing," Edmonton's Doug Weight said after Thursday's game. "Playoff hockey is supposed to be rough and tough. But this was not part of playoff hockey."
#3 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #4 ST. LOUIS BLUES
Sunday May 10 2pm
The St. Louis Blues will try to extend their playoff winning streak to six games when they square off against the Detroit Red Wings in Game Two of their Western Conference semifinal series this afternoon.
Jim Campbell scored twice in a three-goal third period and Grant Fuhr made 27 saves as St. Louis showed no ill effects from a long layoff and took the series opener with a 4-2 victory over Detroit on Friday.
Campbell's five postseason goals trail only Detroit's Sergei Fedorov and Edmonton's Bill Guerin for the lead among players on teams still alive.
Fuhr will appear in his 133rd career playoff game today, moving him past Billy Smith into second on the all-time list behind Patrick Roy. Fuhr also needs three wins to tie Smith for second all-time with 88.
Martin Lapointe and Tomas Holmstrom scored for the Red Wings in the Game One loss. Steve Yzerman, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday, has a goal and three assists during a two-game points streak.
Specialty teams play will have to continue being a strong point for Detroit. The Red Wings are 5-for-15 on the power-play and have killed off 11-of-13 shorthanded situations over the last two games.
The series shifts to St. Louis' Kiel Center for Game Three on Tuesday.
