DALLAS (AP) -- Mike Modano showed why he was worth every penny of his new $43.5 million contract.Modano broke out of his scoring slump with two goals, including the controversial game-winner with 8:44 to play Thursday night, as the Dallas Stars outlasted the San Jose Sharks 3-2.
Dallas took take a 3-2 edge in the Western Conference series, with Game 6 scheduled for Saturday night in San Jose. If Game 7 is needed, it will be played in Dallas on Monday night.
Modano, playing for $3.5 million this year, but doubling his salary when his recently signed six-year deal kicks in next season, scored his second goal on a perfect centering pass from Darryl Sydor, wristing the puck behind a sprawling Mike Vernon. Modano hadn't scored since an empty netter in the first game.
After the game, San Jose claimed Jamie Langenbrunner of the Stars was in the crease. The television replay seemed to back the Sharks argument.
"It was time to put up or shut up," said Modano. "Things hadn't been going my way. I had to start playing in-your-face hockey and just let the scoring chances happen.
"I had opportunities to take it to the net. It was a tough last couple of games. I was waiting for things to happen on the perimeter and what I needed to do was get into those tough areas.
"I had to change the way I played."
Vernon said Langenbrunner was in the crease. Referee Kerry Fraser was not able to see the play, and according to league procedure. the call must be made by the nearest linesman. However, linesman Pierre Racicot didn't go to the replay and the goal stood.
"It's the linesman's call," Vernon said. "If the linesman doesn't see it, he could check the replay. That's what it's there for. If you don't see it, don't guess. That's what the rule is for. He didn't see it."
San Jose coach Darryl Sutter didn't blame Fraser."I know he's an outstanding official," Sutter said. "It's the linesman's mistake, clearly. It shouldn't have counted. I guarantee Vernon stops it if nobody is in his crease to impede him stopping the puck."
Jim Christison, supervisor of officials, said, "It was clear Langenbrunner was in the crease. But we have to let the officials on the ice make the call. Their judgment was the goal was good.
"Fraser and Racicot got caught on the same side of the ice. But both on-ice officials thought the goal was good. They didn't see Langenbrunner in the crease. They felt there was no reason to go upstairs for a replay."
Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock and Modano said they didn't see the replay.
Modano was hit on his sore right shoulder in the first period and played in pain the rest of the way. He missed 16 games this year with a separated shoulder suffered late in the season.
"The thing is this is as bad as the shoulder is going to get," Modano said. "It's going to be tender and I'm going to tweak it from time to time."
San Jose scored twice in eight seconds in the second period on goals by John MacLean and Ron Sutter for a 2-1 lead. But the Stars' Juha Lind evened the game with 3:31 left in the period.
"Both teams worked hard on the forecheck and it it caused a lot of turnovers," Hitchcock said.
MacLean beat goalie Ed Belfour on a power play, and just seconds later Derian Hatcher turned the puck over to Sutter, who whipped a slap shot past Belfour's glove. The NHL record for two fastest goals in a playoff game is five seconds by Detroit against Chicago in 1965.
Lind got his goal in a scramble in front of the Sharks' goal after Sergei Zubov skated in alone for a point blank shot on Vernon.Modano broke a long scoreless streak for the Stars with only 2.4 seconds left in the first period on a power play. Modano beat Vernon with a quick wrist shot on a pass from Pat Verbeek.
Dallas hadn't scored since Zubov converted at 4:16 of Game 3, a span of almost 142 minutes. Dallas swarmed Vernon with 14 shots in the Stars' energetic first period.
The Stars lost forward Jere Lehtinen with a knee injury in the second period and his status was uncertain for Saturday.
Dallas, the top-seeded team in the Western Conference, won the first two games at Reunion Arena, then lost two in a row -- including a 1-0 overtime defeat Tuesday night -- on the road to eighth-seeded San Jose.
#2 COLORADO AVLANCHE vs #7 EDMONTON OILERS
DENVER (AP) -- The Edmonton Oilers simply weren't ready for their season to end. So they prolonged it, for at least another two days. Mike Grier scored two goals and Bill Guerin one, all in the third period, as the Oilers avoided playoff elimination by beating Colorado 3-1 Thursday night. The Oilers, who also rallied to win in the final period of the series opener here, reduced the Avalanche's series lead to 3-2.
Game 6 is scheduled for Saturday night in Edmonton. A seventh game, if necessary, would be played Monday night in Denver.
Edmonton denied Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy's attempt for his 100th career playoff victory -- most in NHL history.
"Going into the third period, everyone was saying it was too darn early to play golf," Oilers coach Ron Low said. "And it is. It is way too early. I can't say enough about this team's character. We played great as a team tonight."
Oilers goalie Curtis Joseph said his team played with appropriate desperation. "It may have been a fifth game for them, but it was a seventh game for us," he said.
Trailing 1-0, the Oilers tied it at 4:25 of the third period on a power play. Guerin sent a long slap shot past Roy, who apparently was screened by diving teammate Stephane Yelle.
Nine minutes later, Grier took the puck from behind the goal and shot from the left side. The puck deflected off defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh's skate into the net.
"It was a lucky bounce," Grier said, "but I was due to have some go in for me. I've hit a few crossbars and posts."
Just seconds after Roy headed to the sideline, Grier scored into the empty net at 19:05.
"We weren't hungry enough to win this game," Avalanche coach Marc Crawford said. "We didn't play with enough desperation or intensity.
"They played a very strong third period, probably their strongest of the series, and they got some breaks because of it."Roy and Joseph each had 30 saves.
Just before Guerin's goal, Edmonton's Ryan Smyth charged to the edge of the crease and may have distracted Roy.
"Smyth hit my stick," Roy said. "That should be interference. I guess (referee Don) Koharski never saw that. The second goal hit Ozo's skate and went over my shoulder."
The Oilers effectively neutralized Colorado center Peter Forsberg. Forsberg, who leads the NHL in playoff scoring with six goals and five assists, was held scoreless.
Yelle scored the lone goal of the first period on a breakaway. When the Oilers appeared to hesitate briefly because of a delayed penalty against Edmonton's Dean McAmmond, Yelle took a pass from Tom Fitzgerald and dashed down the ice, beating Joseph at 16:20.
The Oilers' strategy apparently was to put more pressure on Roy, which they did early in the period. But Colorado outshot the Oilers 12-10 by the end of the period.
Joseph kicked away a shot by Joe Sakic late in the period, and Roy smothered two shots by Smyth on a wraparound attempt.
Joseph deflected a hard shot with his shoulder to deny Claude Lemieux early in the second period, and Colorado's Uwe Krupp had a shot clang off both goalposts but stay out.
Colorado missed another scoring chance when Yelle's high shot ricocheted off the glass onto the back of the net and then to the front of the goal, where it was cleared by the Oilers.
Roy had three solid saves late in the period, including a pad save on a breakaway by Guerin and a stop on Boris Mironov's shot through a screen by Todd Marchant.
#3 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #6 PHOENIX COYOTES
DETROIT (AP) _ Spectacular goals by Vyacheslav Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov keyed Detroit's 3-1 win Thursday night over Phoenix as the Red Wings gained a 3-2 lead in their playoff series with the Coyotes.
Tomas Holmstrom also scored for the Red Wings, bidding to become the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions since 1992.
Rick Tocchet scored for the Coyotes, who have lost twice since shocking Detroit by taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
Action moves to Phoenix for Game 6 on Sunday. If a seventh game is needed, it will be Tuesday night back at Joe Louis Arena.
Jimmy Waite, making his first NHL playoff start in place of injured Phoenix goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, turned in a solid performance. But he was simply overmatched when the Red Wings turned up the heat with breathtaking speed and passing few teams can match.
Detroit outshot the Coyotes 27-18. Chris Osgood, who gave up 13 goals in the first three games, made clutch saves late in the third period to frustrate the Coyotes, who haven't advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 1987 _ when they were the Winnipeg Jets.
Osgood also benefited from solid defensive play. The Coyotes had one power play in the second period and another in the third during which they failed to get a shot on goal.
Holmstrom, through sheer persistence, gave Detroit a 1-0 lead with his first playoff goal at 8:54 of the first period.
Waite made a good stop on Holmstrom's shot from in close. Holmstrom curled back to the top of the right circle, where Kozlov fed him the rebound. This time Holmstrom buried it high on Waite's glove side.
Tocchet tied it with his sixth goal on a power play, knocking in the rebound of Keith Tkachuk's shot while Jamie Macoun was off for interfering with Jim McKenzie.
Kozlov restored the Detroit lead with his second goal on a spectacular play at 17:26 of the first. Kozlov, taking a pass from Anders Eriksson, made a move at the blue line that turned Keith Carney and Gerald Diduck completely around, also causing Cliff Ronning to lose a stride.
That left Kozlov flashing in alone on Waite, whom he beat high on the glove side.
Fedorov, at just 1:07 of the second period, put a nifty move on Diduck that left the Phoenix defenseman on his back. Fedorov then glided in front of the goal and easily flipped the puck in for his fifth goal.
The Coyotes' frustration finally began to show with 3:09 remaining when Mike Gartner tried to retaliate against a perceived wrong by Kozlov and ended up, instead, with both high-sticking and 10-minute misconduct penalties.
Khabibulin remained in Phoenix to receive treatment for the groin injury that caused him to leave Game 4 midway through the second period of a 4-2 loss.
