WESTERN SEMI-FINALS
GAME SUMMARIES
GAME 5:
#2 DALLAS STARS vs #8 SAN JOSE SHARKS
Dallas wins 4-1
Next Game: Dallas advances to the Western Conference Final vs Colorado
Ed Belfour and Mike Modano have been doing what they do best all postseason. Now that Joe Nieuwendyk has joined them, the Dallas Stars feel good about their chances of defending the Stanley Cup.
Nieuwendyk got the Dallas offense going with an early goal and linemate Scott Thornton added a goal and two assists as the Stars beat San Jose 4-1 Sunday night, eliminating the Sharks in five games.
The Stars advanced to a rematch of last year's Western Conference finals against the Colorado Avalanche. The first two games will be in Dallas; the league is expected to release a schedule Monday.
Many consider Colorado the team to beat because of its solid depth and great defensemen. But Dallas is optimistic now that Nieuwendyk and his line look like as much of a threat as Modano and his partners.
"Those guys have lugged a lot for a long time," Nieuwendyk said. "Now, we're chipping in and getting some production. Colorado is a solid group, but we've got a lot of confidence."
Nieuwendyk, the MVP of last year's championship run, started rolling with two goals in a 5-4 victory in Game 4. He followed that with a nifty move to beat goalie Steve Shields midway through the first period for a 1-0 lead.
He basically was picking up where Modano left off. The top-line center scored a goal in each of the first four games and had points in the last eight games before being blanked Sunday. His line still came through, though, as Brett Hull put in a rebound of his own shot for a power-play goal that made it 3-0 early in the third period.
"We talked before the series about this team having two dominant centers," San Jose coach Darryl Sutter said. "I think that showed."
Dallas also has the kind of hot goalie teams often ride to championships.
Belfour won his eighth straight playoff game at Reunion Arena and came within 11:28 of a third straight shutout on his home ice. He ran a scoreless streak to 187 minutes, 25 seconds before being beaten midway through the third period with the Stars already up 4-0.
He also helped continue the Stars' trend of delivering quick knockout blows. This was the sixth straight series Dallas has closed out on its first chance.
"I felt strong today," Belfour said, who revealed he'd been suffering the flu the last few days. "This was huge for us. Nobody wanted to travel back to San Jose."
The Sharks played without Owen Nolan, their leading scorer, or Bryan Marchment, their most physical defenseman. Both were missed as San Jose failed to beat Belfour despite many good scoring chances.
Nolan, who had foot and shoulder injuries, missed this game because of a strained abdominal muscle. Sutter said the team knew after Game 4 that he wasn't going to play. Marchment, who injured a groin muscle, didn't even travel to Dallas.
"I can't skate, I can't push off," said Nolan, who missed Game 2, then scored goals each of the next two games. "I couldn't take explosive strides and couldn't be effective."
The Sharks controlled the puck the first 10 minutes, until Nieuwendyk's goal gave Dallas all the momentum. It led to Thornton's goal three minutes later.
Belfour took over from there.
He maintained the lead by knocking away a great scoring chance by Vincent Damphousse in the closing seconds of the first period. That foreshadowed a second period that included several nice stops on a power play followed by a stop on a shot from Jeff Friesen while sprawled on his side. He made another stop from his stomach in the third period.
"It's definitely a good feeling when you face quality scoring chances and stop them," Belfour said. "I had a couple of lucky saves there and the defense was there to knock away some second chances."
San Jose's frustration began to show early in the final period when penalties for tripping and slashing within 1:18 gave Dallas a 5-on-3 advantage. The Stars scored their final two goals within the next 41 seconds.
With fans chanting "The cup stays here," the only drama left was whether Belfour would keep the Sharks scoreless in three games at Reunion. Patrick Marleau ended it by squeezing the puck past Belfour on a power play.
While Belfour was a steadying influence for Dallas, Shields was either boom-or-bust. he allowed 27 goals in the seven losses and seven goals in the five victories.
"I'm disappointed with the way this game went," he said. "This season, I've been inconsistent at times."
The Sharks will remember this postseason for their first-round victory over top-seeded St. Louis. It was the fifth time a No. 8 seed had reached the second round, but none have advanced beyond.
#3 COLORADO AVALANCHE vs #4 DETROIT RED WINGS
Colorado wins 4-1
Next Game: Colorado advances to the Western Conference Final vs Dallas
Peter Forsberg 5, Steve Yzerman 0.
In a series of dueling superstars, Colorado's Forsberg forged a clear goal-scoring advantage on Detroit's Yzerman, and the Avalanche eliminated the Red Wings from the NHL playoffs with a 4-2 victory Friday night.
Forsberg's fifth goal of the playoffs -- and his fourth game-winner -- helped Colorado claim the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series 4-1.
The Avalanche advance to the conference finals against either Dallas or San Jose. Dallas leads that series 3-1.
It marked the second straight year Colorado ousted its archrival in the second round. Since moving from Quebec in 1995, the Avalanche are 4-0 in second-round series.
"Sometimes you score a bunch of goals and never get a game-winner," Forsberg said, "so I'll take it."
Forsberg's first game-winner came in the clinching game of the first-round series against Phoenix. His other three came in each of Colorado's home games in this series.
"It has been a bad season for me," Forsberg said, referring to a spate of injuries during the regular season. "I've been looking forward to the playoffs. I wasn't feeling that great coming into the playoffs, but I'm playing better and better. Hopefully, we'll get a few days off now and go for the next round."
Yzerman, who has scored 627 career goals but who failed to score a goal in either the first-round series against Los Angeles or against Colorado, was dejected after the loss.
"You never enjoy losing," he said. "We were close, just not quite good enough. That is what is disappointing. We are frustrated because we played pretty hard and had a good effort. We just didn't get it done.
"We couldn't finish off our scoring chances. We couldn't make a pass or make a play when we needed to. We tried and tried."
Colorado defenseman Adam Foote was on the ice for most of Yzerman's even-strength shifts in the series, and Detroit coach Scotty Bowman called Foote a "smart, hard-nosed player. He had a big series. There wasn't much room on the ice."
The Avalanche, who have won 16 of their last 18 games, won for the second straight game without veteran defenseman Ray Bourque, who is out with a knee injury sustained in Game 3. Since Bourque was acquired from Boston on March 6, Colorado has gone 20-4-1.
Forsberg's goal at 4:40 of the third period gave the Avalanche a 3-1 lead. Barely a minute later, Detroit's Brendan Shanahan made it 3-2, but Colorado's fourth line produced an insurance goal as Shjon Podein scored on a rebound at 9:01.
Colorado's Patrick Roy, extending his NHL record for playoff victories to 118, had 20 saves. Chris Osgood had 21 saves.
Colorado's Bob Hartley, the first coach to beat Bowman in back-to-back playoff series, praised his goalie.
"Patrick has given us tons of big saves at key moments, and his confidence is contagious in the dressing room," Hartley said.
"Right now I feel like I'm moving very well in the net," Roy said. "It's probably the best I've felt all year.
"The guys in front of me have been very sharp, and I feel like we're playing really smart hockey. We don't make it tough on ourselves. If we have to dump the puck in, we dump the puck in. We're doing the small things that make the difference between winning and losing."
Neither team mounted any serious scoring threats in a tentative first period that saw Colorado outshoot Detroit 8-5.
Osgood was penalized for slashing midway through the period, and during that advantage Colorado got off three shots, including a hard shot by Chris Drury.
Colorado's Joe Sakic and Stephane Yelle scored in the second period, and Detroit's Larry Murphy countered with a short-handed goal.
Adam Deadmarsh, beating Steve Yzerman on a faceoff in the Detroit end, got the puck to Sakic, who scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot from just outside the right circle at 2:46. The goal came only eight seconds after Nicklas Lidstrom went off for tripping and was Sakic's 100th career playoff point.
Later in the period, Osgood made a sprawling save to rob Sakic from the slot.
At 10:01, Aaron Miller launched a long shot from beyond the right circle, and Yelle tapped in the rebound for a 2-0 lead.
Moments later, Colorado threatened to pad its lead when Shanahan was penalized for high-sticking. But Murphy took a pass from Igor Larionov and beat Roy from close range. Murphy's short-handed goal was his 150th career playoff point.
Forsberg's 40-foot rocket sailed over Osgood's left shoulder early in the final period. Shanahan scored from the slot after a deflection at 6:13.
Three minutes later, Eric Messier kept a play alive by beating Lidstrom to the puck to prevent an icing call, then got the puck to rookie Serge Aubin. Aubin's shot from the left circle rebounded out front, where Podein tipped it in.