WESTERN FINALS
GAME SUMMARIES
GAME 3:
#1 DALLAS STARS vs #2 COLORADO AVALANCHE
Dallas leads 2-1
Next Game: Friday May 28th, 1999 7:30pm at Colorado
Joe Nieuwendyk had a goal and two assists, and Ed Belfour posted his sixth career playoff shutout as the Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-0 Wednesday night to take a 2-1 series lead.
Game 4 of the best-of-7 Western Conference final series is scheduled for Friday night in Denver.
Nieuwendyk scored his eighth goal of the playoffs at 2:22 of the second period on a shot that deflected off a defenseman's skate.
Nieuwendyk, who chased the puck behind the net, flicked what appeared to be a centering pass from behind and just left of the goal. But the puck hit the skate of Colorado defenseman Aaron Miller, who was stationed in front of the net, and ricocheted between Patrick Roy's legs.
On a 2-on-1 break after a Colorado turnover at mid-ice in the third period, Jamie Langenbrunner took a pass from Nieuwendyk and beat Roy from the slot at 10:44.
Dave Reid made it 3-0, scoring from the left circle at 16:05 on assists by Craig Ludwig and Nieuwendyk.
Belfour had 34 saves and Roy 23.
In a wide-open first period that featured numerous scoring opportunities and turnovers, Belfour and Roy were perfect. Belfour stopped 15 shots and Roy, 13.
Colorado, which had only 19 shots in Game 2 -- including just one in the third period -- mounted early pressure on Belfour. But the Stars' goalie responded with a save off Milan Hejduk from close range and a stop on a rebound shot by Valeri Kamensky from the slot.
Belfour stopped shots by Chris Drury and Theo Fleury during a Colorado power play, and Roy deflected a shot from the right circle by Nieuwendyk during a Dallas power play.
Colorado had two prime scoring chances in the second period. Early in the period, Kamensky hit the cross bar. Later, Sandis Ozolinsh's shot from the slot, on a feed from Fleury, clanged off the post.
Belfour had back-to-back saves on Ozolinsh and Hejduk in the third period, and Drury extended Colorado's frustration, hitting the post after a slick move past a defender.