WESTERN QUARTER-FINALS
GAME SUMMARIES
GAME 3:
#1 ST. LOUIS BLUES vs #8 SAN JOSE SHARKS
San Jose leads 2-1
Next Game: Wednesday April 19th, 2000 10:30pm at San Jose
The San Jose Sharks finally turned their home ice into an advantage. Owen Nolan scored twice and the Sharks broke a four-game home losing streak in the playoffs, defeating the top-seeded St. Louis Blues 2-1 Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. The Sharks, who did not qualify for the playoffs until the final week of the season and who went 0-4-1 against St. Louis during the regular season, have won the last two games of the series.
Game 4 of the best-of-7 series is Wednesday at San Jose.
"We're an underdog, we weren't picked to win this. So all we can do is impress people with our play and try to win this thing," Nolan said. "This series is far from over, we don't want to get our confidence too high -- but we just need two (more wins)."
The Blues, who got their only goal from Scott Young, had the NHL's best record during the regular season and went a league-best 27-10-4 on the road this season. But St. Louis never led Monday night, despite outshooting the Sharks 32-22.
"During the regular season, we played very well in the third period. We always found a way to win, whether we were tied or down a goal," St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger said. "In the last couple of games, we haven't found the net, we haven't gotten the bounce or the break we need."
Nolan scored the deciding goal 4:40 into the third period. Mike Rathje's shot from the slot was stopped by goalie Roman Turek, but Nolan got to the loose puck and skated around the prone Turek before sliding the puck into the net.
"Rathje was by himself, but I stopped the shot. It just hit my shoulder, it's hard to cover when it's up there," Turek said.
Steve Shields, who made 31 saves for the Sharks, made three in the final minute -- including one of an Al MacInnis slap shot from just inside the blue line. Earlier in the third, he made a glove save from close range against Young while the Blues were on a power play.
"He made some great saves. He made some huge saves on MacInnis, and he was able to cover up the rebounds," Sharks coach Darryl Sutter said.
"We still know what we're up against. They didn't have the best record during the regular season by not meeting challenges."
The Sharks had not won at home in the playoffs since April 28, 1998. They lost all three of their home games in a first-round loss to Colorado last year, and dropped their final home game the previous year in a first-round loss to Dallas.
Both teams scored power-play goals in the first period.
Nolan opened the scoring 5:39 in when his centering pass deflected off Pronger and past Turek while the Sharks skated with a 5-on-3 advantage.
Pronger helped the Blues tie it with 4:46 remaining in the period. Pronger's shot rebounded to Young, whose drive from a sharp angle got past Shields.
#2 DALLAS STARS vs #7 EDMONTON OILERS
Dallas leads 2-1
Next Game: Tuesday April 18th, 2000 9pm at Edmonton
Doug Weight and the Edmonton Oilers aren't going away without a fight.
Weight scored his first career playoff hat trick, leading the Oilers to an emotional 5-2 playoff victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars on Sunday night.
"He played totally unbelievable," Edmonton forward Georges Laraque said of Weight. "Every time he was on the ice he was creating something and was a threat. It's not just the goals.
"Every game he works hard for us, and it's nice to see him get rewarded with a hat trick, because he makes plays all the time."
The Oilers trail the Stars 2-1 in the best-of-7 Western Conference first-round series. Game 4 is Tuesday night in Edmonton.
"Give them credit -- they did exactly what they had to do and they played well, played hard and played with a lot of emotion," Stars winger Kirk Muller said.
Weight's third goal, on a power play just over six minutes into second period, gave the Oilers a 5-1 lead.
Weight, allowed to walk through the faceoff circle to the left of Ed Belfour, snapped a wrist shot between the legs of the Stars goalie as 17,100 fans erupted in cheers and a cascade of hats, helmets and foam puckheads.
The victory ended a string of nine consecutive playoff losses to the Stars, who have dominated Edmonton since the Oilers upset Dallas in the first round of the 1997 playoffs.
"It was good old-fashioned Oilers hockey," Edmonton coach Kevin Lowe said. "Our leaders led and our foot soldiers did what they have done most of the season."
Sunday's game was a reversal of the first two. This time, the Oilers set the tone and dominated the play, with the Stars running around in their own end and taking retaliatory penalties.
"Their level of desperation was far above ours," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I would imagine today's game will probably be the way every game will be played for the rest of the playoffs. It's the way these two teams go at each other."
Edmonton outshot Dallas 38-28. The Oilers had 22 shots in the first period, setting a club playoff record for shots in a period. They had only 31 total shots in the first two games in Dallas.
"It was crucial we had to get some shots and generate some chances in their zone," Oilers winger Ryan Smith said. "That's exactly what we had to do and we went to work."
Weight opened the scoring 8:40 in when the puck appeared to bounce off his lower leg and past Belfour in a goal-mouth scramble.
He made it 3-0 on a power play with three minutes left in the first when he hammered a shot from the high slot through traffic and over Belfour's outstretched right pad.
Smyth and Jim Dowd also scored for the Oilers.
Mike Modano and Brendan Morrow scored for Dallas.
Smyth's goal came short-handed as he converted a 2-on-1 rush with Ethan Moreau just 76 seconds into the second period. Edmonton had two power-play goals to end an 0-for-8 string against the Stars, who had the best penalty-killing percentage in the NHL in the regular season. It was a physical game at both ends of the ice. Smyth was hit hard by Morrow midway through the second period while slicing through the neutral zone, but returned to play in the third.
Stars defenseman Sergei Zubov, still recovering from a lingering knee injury, is questionable for Game 4. Top forechecker Jere Lehtinen (ankle) will definitely sit out.
#3 COLORADO AVALANCHE vs #6 PHOENIX COYOTES
Colorado leads 3-0
Next Game: Wednesday April 19th, 2000 10:30pm at Phoenix
No matter how hard the Phoenix Coyotes try, Colorado keeps finding a way to win. The latest installment came Monday night, when Adam Deadmarsh scored twice in the third period -- his first two goals against Phoenix -- to tip the scales in a 4-2 victory that pushed the Coyotes to the edge of elimination. The Avalanche have a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 first-round Western Conference series. The Coyotes must win Game 4 at home Wednesday night to avoid their ninth consecutive first-round exit since 1987.
"For us, the playoffs come at the right time," goalie Patrick Roy said. "The team is playing extremely well and we have a lot of confidence."
Roy was beaten on two of four power plays, but otherwise had 23 saves for his third straight victory and 113th in the postseason.
Shjon Podein and Joe Sakic scored earlier for the Avs, and Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick had the Phoenix goals.
But not even the leadership of the two first-line forwards could sidetrack Colorado, which showed it didn't need a deluge of power plays to win. The Avalanche had 16 advantages, in winning the first game 6-3 and the second 3-1, and scored five times.
This time, they were 1-for-3, with Sakic scoring. He broke a 1-1 tie with a goal that went off two skates.
Sandis Ozolinsh kicked the puck across the crease, and Phoenix goalie Sean Burke tried to kick it out but only redirected it to Sakic waiting on his left. Burke was falling and could only watch as Sakic lifted the puck over him for the goal with 5:12 left in the second period.
It was the first goal for Sakic, who has three assists, and the fifth point of the playoffs for Ozolinsh. Peter Forsberg started the play with a pass, earning his second assist in as many games since returning from a shoulder injury. He got another assist, setting up Deadmarsh's first goal.
"I thought it was a big character test to get that third one and get the crowd out of the game," Podein said.
Roenick tied it 2-2 when Adam Foote tried to flick the puck out of Colorado's end and Roenick knocked it down and slapped a wobbling shot into the net 6:17 into the third.
But Deadmarsh took the life out of the Coyotes, redirecting a shot by Forsberg only 29 seconds later. He added an empty-netter with 24 seconds to play.
"I was pretty happy about it," said Deadmarsh, who also had an assist. "We stayed composed, we stayed focused and we're going in the right direction."
"We scored a big goal and tied it up 2-2, and it was just a huge blow when they came back to score the next shift," Tkachuk said.
The scoreless first period featured the neutral-zone trap.
The Avs, who outshot Phoenix 73-41 in the first two games, had just one shot in the first 12 minutes. Each team finished the period with six.
Action heated up quickly in the second, which began with 1:11 left in the Coyotes' second power play.
Tkachuk, scoreless since Jan. 31 after missing 24 of the last 27 games, deflected Jyrki Lumme's slap shot from the blue line, and the puck slipped past Roy 49 seconds into the middle period.
Podein, who had two goals in the first game, had a chance to score minutes later on a wraparound, but missed the net when Mika Alatalo knocked him down.
But Podein tied it 9:32 into the second as the Avs flashed the speed and precision that earned them their sixth consecutive division title in the regular season.
Deadmarsh got the puck along the boards, skated into the circle and passed to Chris Drury in the other circle. Drury sent the puck to Podein in the high slot, and his one-timer went in over Burke's shoulder.
"It's not a good feeling to lose," said Burke, who had 22 saves. "We worked hard and we don't have a lot to show for it."
#4 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #5 LOS ANGELES
Detroit leads 3-0
Next Game: Wednesday April 19th, 2000 10pm at Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Kings have one game to play smarter or their season is over. Sergei Fedorov and Tomas Holmstrom scored power-play goals on two high-sticking penalties against the Kings and the Detroit Red Wings won 2-1 Monday night. "There's a difference between being physical and doing some things that are unnecessary, and we did a couple things that were unnecessary," Kings coach Andy Murray said.
With Scotty Bowman behind the bench for his 99th playoff game as Detroit coach, the Red Wings took a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 Western Conference first-round series. Game 4 is Wednesday at Staples Center.
The Kings have lost 11 consecutive playoff games since beating Montreal in Game 1 of the 1993 Stanley Cup finals. Only two NHL teams have rallied to win a series after trailing 3-0.
"You can say you want to be patient, but when you're down three games to none there's no real time to be patient anymore," said Kings captain Rob Blake, whose high-sticking penalty led to Detroit's first goal.
The Red Wings took their share of undisciplined penalties, only the Kings couldn't capitalize.
"Our problem is that our power play didn't make them pay," Murray said. "The best way to beat a team when they're trying to rough you up or taking bad penalties is to burn them on the power play, and we weren't very good at it."
After the run-and-gun style that ruled Detroit's 8-5 victory in Game 2, both teams returned to the tight-checking, low scoring that marked the Red Wings' 2-0 victory in Game 1.
"The last game was an aberration for both teams. I don't think either of us typically plays that way," said Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, who was stopped twice in the final five minutes. "But Games 1 and 3 were much more like both teams would rather play."
Detroit's Chris Osgood made 21 saves in front of a sellout crowd of 18,118 that included numerous fans dressed in the Red Wings' red and white colors on a night when the Kings urged their fans to dress in black.
"It feels good to be up 3-0, but it's sure been tough," Osgood said. "It doesn't feel like we're up 3-0 because it's been so difficult."
Stephane Fiset, peppered for five goals in less than two periods in the Game 2 loss, stopped 22 shots.
Since going 0-for-6 on the power play in Game 1, the Red Wings have scored five power-play goals. The Kings failed on all seven of their power-play opportunities, making them 0-for-16 in the series.
"If we don't score on our power play, we're not going to win games," Luc Robitaille said.
The Red Wings led 1-0 on Fedorov's 40th career playoff goal and second of the series at 5:21 of the first period when Detroit skated with a two-man advantage. Jozef Stumpel was penalized for roughing, then Blake was sent off for high-sticking on Holmstrom to set up Fedorov's goal that beat Fiset stick side.
"It's not often when you get the two-man advantage because it is a momentum swing," Bowman said. "It was a pretty hectic start and I give a lot of credit to Holmstrom in particular. He takes a lot, but he's a gritty player."
Los Angeles failed to capitalize on a double-minor assessed to Darren McCarty early in the second period.
With McCarty off for tripping and unsportsmanlike conduct, the Kings managed just one shot. Ziggy Palffy got ahead of Nicklas Lidstrom heading to the net, but his shot went straight into Osgood's pads.
"That's a game-winner," Blake said. "They scored on two of their power-play opportunities and go 0-for-7. That's pretty much the game."
The Red Wings led 2-0 on Holmstrom's power-play goal at 14:40 of the second. He redirected a slap shot inside the blue line by Lidstrom with Bryan Smolinski off for high-sticking. They were 2-for-6 on the power play in the game.
The Kings made it 2-1 when Robitaille scored his 49th career playoff goal and second of the series, beating Osgood between his pads at 2:35 of the third.
Brad Chartrand nearly tied it for the Kings 2� minutes later, but Osgood collapsed on his left side to stop Chartrand's shot from close in.
Los Angeles had another excellent chance to tie with 7:23 remaining, but Craig Johnson, in front of Osgood, tipped a shot wide by teammate Ian Laperriere.