WESTERN QUARTER-FINALS
GAME DAY PREVIEWS
GAME 5:
#1 ST. LOUIS BLUES vs #8 SAN JOSE SHARKS
San Jose leads 3-1
Game time: Friday April 21st, 2000 7pm at St. Louis
The San Jose Sharks look to finish off the biggest upset of this year's NHL playoffs tonight when they visit the St. Louis Blues in Game Five of the Western Conference quarterfinals. San Jose continued to get all the right bounces and pushed the Presidents' Trophy winners to the brink of elimination in their series with a 3-2 victory on Wednesday.
Defenseman Gary Suter's point shot hopped past All-Star goaltender Roman Turek with 8:37 remaining and gave the eighth-seeded Sharks an improbable and commanding three games to one lead.
San Jose became the first No. 8 seed to win an opening-round series under the NHL's current playoff format when it stunned the Detroit Red Wings in 1994. The Sharks appear to be on the verge of repeating the feat after finishing 27 points behind St. Louis during the regular season. However, the Sharks are facing a squad that was down three games to one last year in their first-round series. The Blues rallied to defeat the Phoenix Coyotes in seven games when Pierre Turgeon scored an overtime goal in the finale.
If the Blues win tonight, Game Six will be Sunday afternoon in San Jose.
San Jose's Marco Sturm scored his first goal of the series in the opening period on Wednesday, but has warned his teammates not to get too comfortable with the advantage.
"In the playoffs, you always have to worry," he cautioned. "One thing going wrong can make the difference. We have to remain focused."
Sturm was credited with his goal when the puck glanced off his hip before it slid past Turek. Defenseman Marc Bergevin, who accidentally threw the puck into his own net in Game Two, tried to block the passing lane, but Mike Ricci's pass caromed off his chest as he slid over to block a shot.
St. Louis has lost three straight games for the first time this season and has not dropped four in a row since March 4-11, 1999.
Jochen Hecht leads the Blues with three goals in the series, while defenseman Al MacInnis has been held in check with just two assists. St. Louis has a power-play goal in all four games of the series.
#2 DALLAS STARS vs #7 EDMONTON OILERS
Dallas leads 3-1
Game time: Friday April 21st, 2000 9pm at Dallas
The Dallas Stars look to finish off the Edmonton Oilers for the third consecutive time in the postseason when the series returns to Reunion Arena tonight for Game Five of the Western Conference quarterfinals. Guy Carbonneau, the NHL's oldest player, scored with 14:59 remaining as Dallas took a commanding three games to one lead in its series with a 4-3 victory over Edmonton on Tuesday.
Carbonneau, 40, used defenseman Igor Ulanov as a screen and wristed a shot from the top of the slot that beat goaltender Tommy Salo to the glove side. It was the 37th career playoff goal and seventh game-winner for Carbonneau, who appeared in his 212th postseason game.
Bill Guerin produced the Oilers' second hat trick in as many games, but Edmonton was pushed to the brink of elimination by Dallas for the third straight season.
If the Oilers win tonight, Game Six will be Sunday night at Edmonton.
The Oilers had gone nearly eight years without a playoff hat trick before Doug Weight scored three times in Game Three.
As opposed to last season when all four games were decided by one goal, Dallas has won two of its three contests by a one-goal margin and took Game Two, 3-0.
Dallas netminder Ed Belfour stopped only 15 shots and improved to 26-5-6 lifetime against Edmonton, including a 15-3 mark in the postseason. He has stopped 78 of 87 shots through the first four contests.
The only thing that has been deficient for the Stars is their power play. They have tallied just once with the man advantage in the series in 20 chances.
Tommy Salo followed his first-ever playoff victory by stopping 20 shots but fell to 1-14-1 in 16 career decisions against the Stars.
#3 COLORADO AVALANCHE vs #6 PHOENIX COYOTES
Colorado leads 3-1
Game time: Friday April 21st, 2000 9:30pm at Colorado
The Phoenix Coyotes look to swing the series back to a "whiteout" at home with a win tonight at the Pepsi Center in Game Five of their Western Conference quarterfinal series with the Colorado Avalanche. The Coyotes got an inspired first period from rookie Trevor Letowski, Travis Green and Benoit Hogue, then held on for a 3-2 triumph over the Avalanche on Wednesday to stay alive.
After being outscored 6-1 in the first period of the previous three games in the series, Phoenix sprung to a 2-0 lead on goals by Letowski and Green.
"It's a different game out there when you have a lead," said Letowski. "You can stick to your game plan and it's a lot more fun. We played with a lot of emotion out there, and it helped a lot. It's desperation. If we don't win, there's no tomorrow. The first period was one of our best in a long time."
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. If the Coyotes can win again tonight, Game Six would be Saturday night in front of the "whiteout" of fans at America West Arena.
Should the Coyotes fail to join that elite company they would suffer their 10th straight playoff series defeat.
Phoenix goaltender Sean Burke won for only the second time in his last 13 postseason decisions by turning aside 36 shots. With the Coyotes dominating play early, he faced only six shots over the first 20 minutes. But he made 18 saves in the second period and 12 in the third.
Phoenix's penalty killing has been a subject of major concern. The Coyotes have given up seven power-play goals in 23 chances in the series.
Adam Deadmarsh remained hot for Colorado, picking up his third goal of the series and he has five points in the last two contests. Dave Andreychuk added a power-play tally for his second goal of the series. The 36-year-old left wing had just one goal in 14 games after Colorado obtained him from Boston in the trade that also involved Ray Bourque.
The loss halted Colorado's 11-game winning streak that dated to the regular season.
#4 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #5 LOS ANGELES
Detroit wins 4-0
Game time: Detroit advances to the second round.