Wednesday May 13 9:30pm
Goals should continue to be very hard to come by tonight when the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers face off in Game Four of their Western Conference semifinal series.
Monday's Game Three was one of the most exciting games of this postseason with both Dallas' Ed Belfour and Edmonton's Curtis Joseph matching zeroes through the first three periods. Benoit Hogue scored the game's only goal with 6:53 left in overtime as Dallas took a two games to one lead in the best-of-seven series.
Belfour, who recorded his fourth career playoff shutout, has stopped 78-of-80 shots in the series' first three games. He has a league-best 1.50 goals-against average in nine postseason games thus far.
The Stars are 1-for-18 on the power play through three games but have also held the Oilers to one power-play goal in 15 chances.
Mike Modano has been limited to just two shots in the semifinals but leads Dallas with nine points in the playoffs. Defenseman Sergei Zubov is second with seven points.
Joseph has been just about as good as Belfour despite losing two of the three games. "Cujo" is 5-5 in the playoffs with a 1.80 GAA and a .930 save percentage.
Joseph nearly became the first goaltender in 72 years to record four shutouts in five postseason games. Clint Benedict accomplished the feat in 1926 with the Montreal Maroons.
Center Doug Weight leads Edmonton with nine points and Bill Guerin is second with seven, including a team-best six goals.
Game Five is Saturday in Dallas.
#3 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #4 ST. LOUIS BLUES
Thursday May 14 7:30pm
The defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings can take a commanding three games to one lead over the St. Louis Blues tonight in Game Four of their Western Conference semifinal series.
Brendan Shanahan scored the game-winner at 11:12 of the second overtime as the Red Wings regained home-ice advantage with a 3-2 victory in Game Three on Tuesday.
Since losing two straight games to Phoenix in the quarterfinals, Detroit has won five of its last six playoff contests.
Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood allowed Al MacInnis to score the tying goal on a slap shot from the red line with 55 seconds left in regulation. But Osgood was sharp in the two overtimes, stopping all 10 shots he faced. He is 6-3 with a 2.64 goals-against average this postseason.
Sergei Fedorov is Detroit's leading playoff scorer with 11 points, while Nicklas Lidstrom and Steve Yzerman are second with 10 apiece. Yzerman has two goals and four assists during a four-game points streak.
The Blues may have lost Game Three but at least they know they'll have the services of their two top defensemen tonight. Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis both returned from injuries and were key contributors Tuesday.
MacInnis missed the first two games of the series with a groin injury but ended up scoring both goals. Pronger was hospitalized following Game Two after taking a slap shot in the chest but remarkably logged over 41 minutes of ice time.
Pronger leads St. Louis with nine points and Jim Campbell and Geoff Courtnall are second with eight apiece. Pronger is the only member of the Blues with points in all seven playoff games.
Game Five is Sunday afternoon in Detroit.
