WESTERN QUARTER-FINALS
GAME SUMMARIES
GAME 5:
#1 DALLAS STARS vs #8 EDMONTON OILERS
Dallas wins 4-0
Next Game: Dallas advances to the next round
#2 COLORADO AVALANCHE vs #7 SAN JOSE SHARKS
Colorado leads 3-2
Next Game: Monday May 3rd, 1999 9:30pm at San Jose
Living dangerously finally caught up with the San Jose Sharks.
Theo Fleury had two goals and an assist Saturday night as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Sharks 6-2 to take a one-game lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Claude Lemieux added a goal and three assists and Peter Forsberg scored short-handed to ignite Colorado, which leads the best-of-7 series 3-2. Game 6 is Monday night in San Jose.
The Sharks accomplished what they wanted in Denver -- forcing the series back to California -- but gave themselves little chance Saturday, allowing a short-handed goal, two power-play goals and committing costly turnovers.
San Jose coach Darryl Sutter subjected himself to the critics by starting Steve Shields in place of goaltender Mike Vernon, who had played well through the first four games.
Shields, 9-0-2 in his last 11 regular-season starts, finished with 29 saves. Even Vernon would have been hard-pressed to stop at least two Colorado goals, and he couldn't control Patrick Roy's stellar play at the other end.
Roy, who was pulled after giving up six goals 24 hours earlier, stopped 31 shots for his 102nd career playoff victory. He lost his shutout on Patrick Marleau's power-play goal 5:34 into the third period and gave up another score on a 5-on-3 in the closing minutes.
Marleau's goal pulled San Jose to 5-1, but Fleury answered with his second goal of the game less than four minutes later to thwart any chance of a comeback.
The scond period started inauspiciously for the Avalanche as they blew a two-minute, five-on-three advantage for the second straight night. Despite the missed opportunity, Colorado got a spark when Fleury scored his first goal of the series to give the Avalanche a 2-0 lead at 11:15.
The goals came easily after that as Fleury stole the puck from Mike Rathje at the blue line and found Joe Sakic for a one-timer past Shields at 12:55.
Lemieux beat Shields on a slap shot from the right circle 49 seconds later, and Adam Deadmarsh capped the second-period flurry when he deflected in Aaron Miller's long slap shot just before the horn sounded.
Colorado, which surrendered two short-handed goals Friday night, came back with one of its own in the first period as Forsberg beat Rathje to a loose puck and faked out Shields for an easy breakaway score and a 1-0 lead at 4:31.
#3 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #6 ANAHIEM MIGHTY DUCKS
Detriot wins 4-0
Next Game: Detroit advances to the next round
#4 PHOENIX COYOTES vs #5 ST. LOUIS BLUES
Phoenix leads 3-2
Next Game: Sunday May 2nd, 1999 2pm at St. Louis
Scott Young waited for the right time to score his first goal of the playoffs, and took advantage of the opportunity. Young, who was third on St. Louis' roster in goals during the season, charged through the Phoenix defense and scored 5:43 into overtime as the Blues staved off playoff elimination with a 2-1 victory over the Coyotes on Friday night.
Coupled with Al MacInnis' tying goal in the third period, it was a comeback that the Blues almost lost hope for because of Nikolai Khabibulin's heroics in the Phoenix net.
"It was an exciting game," Young said. "We came back. We hung in there, Al got the big goal, and we did what we had to do. We got some timely goals tonight, which we hadn't been getting."
The Coyotes still hold a 3-2 lead, but the site of the first-round series switches to St. Louis for Game 6 on Sunday.
The Blues will go in with momentum after outshooting Phoenix 43-27 and outskating the Coyotes throughout the second overtime game of the series. Phoenix won the first 4-3 and used that as the springboard to beat the Blues twice in St. Louis.
"We knew if we kept pressing that sooner or later we'd get lucky and get one," Blues goaltender Grant Fuhr said.
Dallas Drake scored his fourth goal of the postseason on a Phoenix power play in the second period, but Fuhr handled 26 other shots for his 88th playoff victory, which tied him with Billy Smith for second all-time.
Colorado's still-active Patrick Roy leads with 101 wins.
Young got the puck on a pass from Chris Pronger out of the neutral zone and fired a wrist shot from the circle that handcuffed the beleaguered Khabibulin, who had 34 of his 41 saves before MacInnis scored on a power play with 8:10 left in regulation.
"Nik played well," Phoenix coach Jim Schoenfeld said about Young's decisive score. "He was well out of the net and had his angle. It was just a perfect shot. Young is one of the few guys who could take a wrist shot like that."
MacInnis, who also has six assists, scored his third goal in as many games in Phoenix. The last two came on power plays, and the first came one second after a power play ended.
The loss left the Coyotes hanging in first-round limbo. They have failed to reach the second round in seven tries since 1987.
It was the fourth straight game decided by a single goal. Phoenix won the second game 4-3 on a goal by Shane Doan, and the momentum carried over as the Coyotes won two contests in St. Louis.
Khabibulin, who had 27 saves in his 2-1 Game 4 victory three nights earlier, made several spectacular stops while the Coyotes killed the first five St. Louis power plays, holding the Blues scoreless in 10 straight advantages since near the end of Game 3.
Meanwhile, the Coyotes had their sixth power play of the game when Ricard Persson grabbed Drake by the chin and threw him 2:50 into the extra period. But the Coyotes, who were 26th in power-play efficiency during the season, got only one shot off against the proficient St. Louis special team.
"On that power play in overtime, a couple of guys had some point-blankers," said Rick Tocchet, who assisted on Drake's goal. "That was the one we wanted. We had possession, we had the shots we wanted, we had guys in the spots you want, and we just didn't connect."
MacInnis took three straight penalties in the second period, and the Coyotes capitalized on the last after he tripped Stephen Leach with 4:43 left.
Teppo Numminen, who missed a goal when he hit the post on the previous Phoenix advantage, took another slap shot which Fuhr rejected. But Keith Tkachuk got a swat at the rebound, and Rick Tocchet got off a shot before that rebound came out to the side for Drake, who flipped the puck over the sprawling goalie with 3:35 to play in the period.
Phoenix appeared to have a goal 6:22 into the game, when Tkachuk found the back of the net seconds before Michal Handzus knocked him headlong into Fuhr. But the goal was disallowed because replays showed the puck went off Tkachuk's right hand.
Along with Numminen's shot, the Coyotes came within an inch of a possible victory when Tkachuk got a short-handed breakaway on Fuhr about 7:45 into the third period. Tkachuk's shot trickled between Fuhr's legs, but Jamie Rivers dived into the crease to knock it away before it touched the goal line.
"They were up 1-0 and Tkachuk was on a breakaway, and Fuhr makes a big stop," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said. "That is obviously the turning point of the game, and then MacInnis scores."