WESTERN QUARTER-FINALS
GAME DAY PREVIEWS
GAME 4:
#1 ST. LOUIS BLUES vs #8 SAN JOSE SHARKS
San Jose 2-1
Game time: Wednesday April 19th, 2000 10:30pm at San Jose
The eighth-seeded San Jose Sharks continue their quest of a first-round upset of the top-seeded St. Louis Blues in Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Owen Nolan's second goal of the game snapped a tie with 15:20 remaining as the Sharks stunned the Blues again, 2-1, to take a two games to one lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
San Jose pulled the only other first-round upset of the Western Conference's top seed when the league switched from divisional playoffs to a conference-based playoff system in 1993-94 when the Sharks upset Detroit in seven games.
St. Louis cruised through the regular season and captured the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best team with 114 points while nearly tying the league record for most wins in a season. One of three teams in the postseason with losing records, the Sharks finished 27 points behind the Blues. The Blues can still take heed that they were one of the NHL's all-time best squads on the road. They nearly tied a league record with 27 road wins during the regular season.
Nolan, who has been nursing a shoulder injury, has three goals and an assist in the series, while defenseman Mike Rathje has a goal and three assists.
Nolan put the Sharks' fans in a frenzy when he scored a fluke power-play goal 5-plus minutes into the game for a 1-0 lead. With St. Louis rookie Tyson Nash off for cross-checking, Nolan's attempted centering pass caromed off Pronger's leg and behind Turek.
Scott Young scored the Blues' lone goal and has a goal and assist in his two games of the series. He missed the opener with a shoulder injury.
San Jose has split two series in which the club owned a two games to one lead, falling in 1994 against Toronto while defeating Calgary in 1995.
#2 DALLAS STARS vs #7 EDMONTON OILERS
Dallas leads 2-1
Game time: Tuesday April 18th, 2000 9pm at Edmonton
The Edmonton Oilers hope to build off Sunday's win and square their Western Conference quarterfinal series with the Dallas Stars tonight in Game 4. Buoyed by a raucous sellout at Skyreach Centre, Edmonton finally got off the deck against Dallas, winning Game Three, 5-2, thus ending the Oilers' nine-game postseason losing streak against the Stars.
Doug Weight recorded the 25th playoff hat trick in team history and the first since Joe Murphy had one in 1992, but needed a little help from modern technology. Off a goalmouth scramble in the first period, the puck caromed off his left skate and into the net. Referee Don Van Massenhoven immediately waved it off, signaling that Weight hit it with a high stick, but replays showed the Oilers captain missed it with his stick before the puck hit his skate.
That goal was one of 22 shots Edmonton produced in the first period, one better than the team playoff record set against Chicago in the 1983 Campbell Conference finals and equaled against Colorado in the 1997 West semifinals.
Tommy Salo stopped 26 shots to record his first career playoff win, while also defeating Dallas for the first time in 15 career decisions against them (1-13-1).
Nearly perfect in the first two games, Stars netminder Ed Belfour was overwhelmed early and fell to 25-5-6 lifetime against the Oilers, including a 14-3 mark in the postseason. He has stopped 63 of 69 shots through the first three contests.
Rookie Brenden Morrow scored his first career playoff goal on the power play early in the second period, but Dallas was just 1-for-9 with the extra man and surrendered a shorthanded goal. The Stars are 1-for-16 on the power play in the series.
Mike Modano had the other goal for Dallas, giving him 81 points and moving him within two of Brian Bellows for the all-time franchise lead.
#3 COLORADO AVALANCHE vs #6 PHOENIX COYOTES
Colorado leads 3-0
Game time: Wednesday April 19th, 2000 10:30pm at Phoenix
The Colorado Avalanche look for a four-game sweep of the Phoenix Coyotes tonight when the teams battle Wednesday night in the Western Conference quarterfinals.Adam Deadmarsh had two goals and two assists as Colorado took the commanding three games to none lead in the series with a 4-2 triumph over Phoenix on Monday.
Deadmarsh set up a pair of goals in the second period before he was credited with the go-ahead tally with 13:14 left in the third. Peter Forsberg threw the puck at the net from the right faceoff circle and it caromed off Deadmarsh's skate and between goaltender Sean Burke's pads to snap a 2-2 tie.
"I don't know what happened, it just went in the net," Deadmarsh said. "I slipped it through. We kept fighting them off, we did what we had to."
Only two teams have rebounded from 3-0 deficits to win a best-of-seven series -- the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1975 New York Islanders.
Colorado has recorded 10 straight wins dating to the regular season while Phoenix lost its sixth consecutive playoff game.
Goaltender Patrick Roy made 23 saves and extended his NHL record with his 113th career playoff win. Sean Burke stopped 22 shots but has lost 10 of his last 11 postseason decisions.
The Coyotes' franchise has lost nine consecutive playoff series since 1987 when the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Calgary Flames in six games in the Smythe Division semifinals.
Phoenix recorded its first lead of the series when captain Keith Thachuk scored in the second period on Tuesday. With fans dressed all in white to create a "whiteout" at America West Arena, the Coyotes finally kept the Avalanche off the scoreboard in the first period. The Coyotes had been outscored, 6-1, in the opening period in a pair of road losses to start the series.
Phoenix has been swept in its two previous series when trailing three games to none while Colorado won its only series with a three-game lead.
#4 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #5 LOS ANGELES
Detroit leads 3-0
Game time: Wednesday April 19th, 2000 10pm at Los Angeles
The Detroit Red Wings will try to finish off the Los Angeles Kings in their Western Conference quarterfinal series Wednesday night. The series shifted to Los Angeles Monday, but the Red Wings kept the momentum with a 2-1 win behind a pair of power-play goals and 21 saves by Chris Osgood.
Detroit, which is trying to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in four years, is 5-for-14 with the man advantage in the last two games after going 0-for-6 in the series opener.
Los Angeles, which has been within a goal for much of the series, is 0-for-17 on the power play after an 0-for-8 performance on Monday.
The Kings have lost 11 straight playoff games and five in a row at home in the postseason since the 1993 Western Conference finals.
Only two teams have rallied from 3-0 deficits in a best-of-seven series -- the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders.