STANLEY CUP FINALS
GAME SUMMARIES
GAME 6:
#1 DALLAS STARS vs #7 BUFFALO SABRES
Dallas wins 4-2
Next Game: Dallas wins the Stanley Cup
The Dallas Stars might have been the first Stanley Cup winner too exhausted to lift it.
Brett Hull scored at 14:51 of the third overtime, putting a rebound over weary Dominik Hasek as the Dallas Stars won hockey's biggest prize as much by exhaustion as execution, outlasting the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 Saturday night.
It was the second-longest overtime game in Stanley Cup finals history and the longest to decide a winner -- and a disputed winner at that. The angry Sabres protested that Hull's left skate was in the crease as he scored.
"We had nothing left. They had nothing left. Thank God it's over," Stanley Cup playoff MVP Joe Nieuwendyk of Dallas said.
Call it a Sun Belt Stanley Cup. Dallas is the southernmost city to hoist the cup. When Lord Stanley paid $50 for the cup in 1892, he likely didn't envision it being won by a team located much closer to Mexico than Canada.
Hull ended the intense, suspenseful game with his third goal of the series and third career overtime playoff goal.
Hasek, outplayed again by Ed Belfour, went to his chest to bounce on a shot by Jere Lehtinen, who scored the first goal four hours before. But the puck rebounded into the slot to Hull, who lifted it into the net from the right side of the crease.
NHL official Bryan Lewis explained that Hull had possession of the puck both inside and outside of the crease.
"You can have all the other ones, this is the biggest for me," Hull said. "It is unbelievable. The team has gone through so much together. There was a lot of pressure on the guys. We just came through."
Hull's name goes on the ancient trophy with that of his father, Bobby, who won an NHL title with Chicago in 1961.
"It is unbelievable starting out as a kid growing up in that shadow and finally making a niche for myself," Brett Hull said. "This finally completes the cycle. I hope someday my son or grand kids can do it."
Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said Hull played in the last two games with a left knee that needs reconstructive surgery and two injured groin muscles.
"He may be rehabbing when the next season starts," Hitchcock said. "He played on one knee and no groins the last three shifts. He limped to the front of the net. He limped into the corner.
"I'm glad there isn't a Game 7, because I don't know where this team would be (physically) if we did."
The Sabres locked themselves in their locker room for 20 minutes, refusing to come out as they reviewed video tape. An ESPN replay appeared to show Hull's left skate entering the crease before he shot the puck.
"That's your worst nightmare right there. We're going to protest, of course," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Anybody could see it. It wasn't a goal. All we want is a review. They said it was a good goal."
Dallas' delight at winning a Stanley Cup only six years after the Minnesota North Stars relocated there probably is surpassed only by Buffalo's disappointment at losing -- again.
The Buffalo Bills lost four consecutive Super Bowls earlier in the 1990s, once when Scott Norwood's game-winning field goal attempt against the New York Giants sailed wide.
Once again Saturday, Buffalo was wide right. Joe Juneau, Michael Peca and Alexei Zhitnik all missed excellent scoring chances from the third period on that sailed to the right by Belfour.
Of course, the odds also were in Dallas' favor as soon as the game went into overtime. The last six teams with a chance to win the cup in overtime have done so. Also, the road team has won the last eight Stanley Cup finals overtime games.
"It was really worth it," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "It was such an endurance test. I'm proud of the team. They reached every goal we set. It was unbelievable.
"I said from Christmas on that this is a magical team. We might have a better team one day, but this was a magical team."
The Stars are the fourth team to win a Stanley Cup in a game decided in multiple overtimes, joining Colorado (1996), Detroit (1950) and Chicago (1934).
With 22 goals -- 13 by Dallas and nine by Buffalo -- it was the lowest-scoring six-game final round in Stanley Cup history. The record of 25 was set by the New York Rangers (14) and Toronto (11) in 1945.
Until now, that was the only Stanley Cup finals in which both goaltenders had goals-against averages under 2.00, but Belfour and Hasek each did that.
"Today is the happiest day of my life," Belfour said. "It is just unbelievable.
"I'm just happy to be on this team and get a chance to play on such a great team. ... I am a hardworking goaltender and am happy to be on this team."
The game was so long, the Hockey Night in Canada telecast became Hockey Morning in Canada, as the finish occurred slightly past 1:30 a.m. EDT. The overtime lasted 54:51, the longest except for Edmonton's 3-2 victory over Boston in Game 1 in 1990 that lasted 55:13.
Dallas, which allowed the first goal in the earlier two games played at Marine Midland Arena, took a 1-0 lead on one of its few scoring chances in the first period.
Lehtinen skated to Mike Modano's pass at the bottom of the left circle and, with Darryl Shannon hanging off his left shoulder, slipped the puck through a narrow opening between Hasek's right pad and the goal post at 8:09.
Lehtinen somehow found the only area left unprotected by Hasek, who banged his stick in disgust at permitting the kind of shot he almost always stops.
Modano assisted on the Stars' final five goals of the series, including both in Game 5 and Game 6. Modano led the Stars with 23 points in the playoffs, two more than Nieuwendyk. All seven of Modano's points in the finals were on assists.
The Sabres' defense tightened following Lehtinen's 10th playoff goal. But so did an offense that hadn't scored since the third period of Game 4 -- until Stu Barnes beat Belfour late in the second period on the Sabres' 26th shot.
Seconds after a Dallas line change momentarily left six Stars on the ice, Barnes wristed the puck from the right circle into the unguarded right side of the net at 18:21 just as Belfour shifted to protect the short side.
Barnes' third goal of the finals and seventh of the playoffs stopped a Sabres scoreless streak that had stretched to 130 minutes, 44 seconds. But the suspense was only beginning.
Belfour, no longer saddled with the reputation of being unable to win the big game, stopped 53 of 54 shots. Hasek, playing in his first finals as a starter, made 48 saves.
The first overtime was so tightly played that the Stars didn't get a shot for the first 12:14.
There were only four power plays, two by each team and none after Buffalo killed off Michael Peca's slashing penalty 1:29 into the third period. The Sabres failed to convert on their final 19 power plays of the finals.
The Stars became the second team in as many seasons to win the cup on the road, as Detroit did a year ago, and the third in four seasons.