Dallas Stars Rule

Stars - 97 points, 5th seed. Avalanche - 100 points, 4th seed.

TEAM LEADERS: Stars - Guerin, 34 goals and 69 points; Arnott, 36 assists; Steve Ott, 152 PIM. Avalanche - Sakic, 33 goals and 87 points; Sakic and Tanguay, 54 assists; Peter Worrell, 179 PIM.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Stars - Power play: 15.9 percent (52 for 328), 18th in NHL. Penalty killing: 85.9 percent (267 for 311), 4th. Avalanche - Power play: 20.4 percent (74 for 363), 3rd. Penalty killing: 83.8 percent (299 for 357), 16th.

NETMINDERS: Stars - Turco (37-21-13, 9 SO, 1.98 GAA); Tugnutt (3-7-0, 1, 2.41). Avalanche - Aebischer (32-19-9, 4, 2.09); Tommy Salo (18-21-7, 3, 2.56).

REGULAR SEASON SERIES: Colorado Avalanche, 3-1. Aebischer started in all four contests and allowed just three goals in winning the first three matchups, 3-0 victory in the first meeting Nov. 15. Turco struggled against the Avalanche, giving up 11 goals in the three defeats before making 15 saves in a 5-1 win on Feb. 20.

Kariya's latest injury came at the worst time for the Colorado Avalanche, as the left wing suffered a sprained ankle Sunday in the regular. He is out indefinitely. Despite all the injuries, Colorado still finished with 100 points, but lost to get their hands on the Northwest Division title when it was given to the Vancouver Canucks.

Dallas has also slumped a little bit before the playoffs, going 1-2-0-2 to close the season following a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1). However the Dallas Stars will have try to overcome Colorado's home-ice advantage, a major factor that could be very deadly, since Dallas was just 15-19-5-2 on the road, compared to 26-7-8-0 at the American Airlines Center.

Marty Turco has returned from a four-game high-sticking suspension in the Dallas Stars season finale. Ron Tugnutt served a while when Turco was out, and the Stars lost all four games that he had served, including two in overtime, but when Turco was back, they won at the AAC against the Chicago Blackhawks by a 5-2 score.