WESTERN SEMI-FINALS
GAME DAY PREVIEWS
GAME 1:
#1 DALLAS STARS vs #5 ST. LOUIS BLUES
Series Tied 0-0
Game time: Thursday May 6th, 1999 8pm at Dallas
The St. Louis Blues must go through Brett Hull to advance to the Western Conference finals.
After scoring 528 goals in 11 years with the Blues, Hull left the team in the offseason to sign a three-year, $17 million contract with the Dallas Stars. Now Hull will try to eliminate his former club when the teams begin a Western Conference series tonight in Dallas.
Hull placed second on the Stars with 32 goals and 58 points during the season, despite missing 20 games with hamstring and groin problems. But Hull had just one assist in Dallas' first-round sweep of the Edmonton Oilers.
While Dallas was off for the past eight days, the Blues had to rally from a three games to one deficit and beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 1-0, in overtime in the decisive seventh game on Tuesday. Pierre Turgeon scored on a deflection 17:59 into overtime to give St. Louis the win.
The Blues held the Coyotes to four goals in winning the last three games as Grant Fuhr looked like the goalie who led Edmonton to five Stanley Cups.
Right wing Pat Verbeek and defenseman Shawn Chambers and Richard Matvichuk were all missing from the series with Edmonton, but all three will be back for tonight's opener.
The leader of the Dallas defense, captain Derian Hatcher, will serve the final game of his seven-game suspension tonight for breaking the jaw of Phoenix Coyotes center Jeremy Roenick in a regular season game.
These teams have split 10 previous postseason series, although the Stars have won the last two, including a sweep of the 1994 Western Conference quarterfinals.
The Blues have not made it past the second round of the playoffs since 1986.
#2 COLORADO AVALANCHE vs #3 DETROIT RED WINGS
Series Tied 0-0
Game time: Friday May 7th, 1999 7:30pm at Colorado
Two teams with a bitter distaste for one another open what promises to be a very entertaining Western Conference semifinal series tonight as the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche meet in the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
Colorado surprised Detroit in the 1996 conference finals en route to the Stanley Cup. That six-game series was punctuated by Claude Lemieux's hit on Kris Draper that left the Red Wings center with a fractured jaw.
But Detroit turned the tables the following year, topping the Avalanche in six games before ending their 42-year championship drought.
While the Avalanche struggled against San Jose, the Red Wings looked like a juggernaut against Anaheim. They outscored the Ducks, 17-6, and never trailed after the first period of any game. Detroit carries a nine-game playoff winning streak into this series as it tries to become only the fourth franchise in NHL history to win three consecutive championships.
This series is made even more interesting because both teams have new faces in their lineup this time around. Detroit acquired Chris Chelios, Wendel Clark, Ulf Samuelsson and goaltender Bill Ranford at the trade dealine in trades that now make general manager Ken Holland look like a genius.
Colorado brought aboard Theoren Fleury and Dale Hunter for the postseason push, and they provided veteran leadership in the conference quarterfinals, where the Avalanche were pushed to six games by the San Jose Sharks.
Not surprisingly, the Red Wings have the top power play in the postseason at 30.4 percent. But Detroit had trouble against the Ducks' power play, yielding four goals in 20 chances. Colorado scored seven power-play goals in the quarterfinals and gave up seven.
The teams split four regular-season meetings, each team winning once on the road. The Red Wings were 5-for-22 with the man advantage, while the Avalanche were 1-for-16.
Game Two is Sunday afternoon in Colorado.