WESTERN SEMI-FINALS
GAME DAY PREVIEWS
GAME 4:
#1 DALLAS STARS vs #5 ST. LOUIS BLUES
Dallas leads 2-1
Game time: Wednesday May 12th, 1999 7:30pm at St. Louis
With a little momentum on their side, the St. Louis Blues seek to even their Western Conference semifinal series against the Dallas Stars tonight.
The Stars continued their roll through the postseason by winning the first two games of this series at home before Pavol Demitra scored 2:43 into overtime in Game Three on Monday to give the Blues life. Demitra, St. Louis' leading scorer during the regular season, has three goals and one assist in the last two games.
Monday's loss ended Dallas' five-game postseason overtime winning streak and dealt the Stars their first loss of this year's playoffs.
Including the last two regular seasons and Monday's loss, Dallas is winless in its last five visits to St. Louis (0-4-1).
The Blues went 9-for-33 on the power play in seven games against Phoenix but are just 1-for-14 in the first three contests against Dallas. The Stars struggled with the man advantage in the conference quarterfinals against Edmonton and that has continued in the semifinals. They are a dismal 3-for-38 on the power play in seven games.
Center Pierre Turgeon leads the Blues with 11 points this postseason and Demitra has a team-best five goals. Center Joe Nieuwendyk is the Stars' leading scorer with five goals and eight points.
Right wing Jere Lehtinen, who plays on Dallas' top line with Brett Hull and Mike Modano, suffered a knee injury Monday and missed the third period. He is listed as day-to-day.
Game Five is Saturday at Dallas.
#2 COLORADO AVALANCHE vs #3 DETROIT RED WINGS
Detroit leads 2-1
Game time: Thursday May 13th, 1999 7:30pm at Detroit
The Colorado Avalanche look to continue their uncanny road success tonight and even their Western Conference semifinal series against the Detroit Red Wings at two games apiece.
Things looked bleak for the Avalanche after losing both home games to the Red Wings by a combined 7-2 score. But Patrick Roy made 44 saves and Colorado exploded for three goals in a 2:15 span of the second period Tuesday en route to a 5-3 victory.
The heavy workload suits Roy just fine. He is 10-1 lifetime in the postseason when facing 40 or more shots.
Colorado has won all four road playoff games but has lost four of five at home, where it returns Sunday for Game Five.
Detroit had its postseason winning streak snapped at 11 games in its first contest without center Igor Larionov, who is expected to miss at least one more game with a dislocated left pinky.
After playing so well in the first two games of the series, Bill Ranford allowed five goals on 24 shots in Game Three and was replaced by Norm Maracle. No. 1 goaltender Chris Osgood is sidelined with a knee injury.
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman continued his torrid scoring with a goal and an assist Tuesday. He leads Detroit with nine goals and 12 points.
Despite the loss, the Wings continued to click with the man advantage. They have power-play goals in all seven postseason games and are 12-for-44 overall.
Theo Fleury has been a very nice addition for the Avalanche. He leads all playoff scorers with 14 points, including two goals and one assist against Detroit.