STANLEY CUP FINALS
GAME DAY PREVIEWS
GAME 3:
#1 DALLAS STARS vs #7 BUFFALO SABRES
Series tied 1-1
Game time: Saturday June 12th, 1999 8pm at Buffalo
Upstate New York hosts its first Stanley Cup Finals game in 24 years tonight when the Dallas Stars visit the Buffalo Sabres in Game Three of their best-of-seven series.
Buffalo last hosted a Finals contest May 27, 1975 in Memorial Auditorium as the Philadelphia Flyers blanked the Sabres, 2-0, in Game Six to win their second straight Stanley Cup.
Dallas posted a 4-2 win in Game Two on Thursday but lost center Mike Modano with 9 1/2 minutes left due to a wrist injury on a check by Jay McKee.
The Stars are insisting Modano will back, despite an ESPN report that he is out for the rest of the series with a broken wrist and a shoulder injury. He officially is listed as day-to-day and is second on the Stars in playoff scoring with 18 points, one behind Joe Nieuwendyk.
Offseason signee and former 80-goal scorer Brett Hull netted the biggest goal of his career Thursday, beating Dominik Hasek on a one-timer with 2:50 left to snap a 2-2 tie. The Stars added an empty-netter and knotted the series.
Hull has points in four of his last five games and is fourth on the team with seven goals. Jamie Langenbrunner, who also scored Thursday, leads all playoff scorers with 10 goals.
A major concern for the Stars is their struggling power play. They are 1-of-16 in this series and 11-of-97 (11 percent) in the postseason.
Buffalo defenseman Jason Woolley picked up an assist Thursday and is the only Sabre with points in both games of the Finals. He scored the overtime winner in Game One on Tuesday.
Miroslav Satan, a 40-goal scorer in the regular season, has been invisable lately. He has just an assist in the last four games and has just three goals in eight playoff contests.
Game Four is Tuesday night in Buffalo. The teams return to Dallas for Game Five on Thursday.