You Just Have To Show a Little Faith
These Dallas Stars are a unique team. They always love to make
things interesting. This first-round series between Edmonton and
Dallas has been another nail-biter, true to form of the previous
two times the teams waged war in the playoffs.
And a war it has been. As it was last season, Edmonton skated and
battled their hearts out. And kept their mouths quiet. The Oilers
came out with a decisive and unwavering physical tone from the
start, and have played that same style through game three.
Stars such as Guy Carbonneau, Darryl Sydor, Sergei Zubov, and Jere
Lehtinen have been getting some special attention from Edmonton.
Sydor looks like he's been mainly skating just to stay alive, as
much as make a play. But make plays he and the others have.
Dallas has been as equally unwavering when it comes to playing their
game - a defensively sound, hard-forechecking squad that patiently
waits for a chance. And so it has been up to this point. Up until
game three anyway, Edmonton has banged bodies more than played the
puck on net. And as a result, the Oil only had a few really good
sniffs at Belfour in the first two games. They failed to capitalize
on some of those chances, giving Dallas the chance to out-defend and
out-score them.
The Stars have managed to win all three games to this point- but
barely. It has not been pretty. In all three games, especially game
one, Dallas has started the first period tentatively. They play the
methodical defensive system they are known for, while just trying
to maintain puck possession as they battle through all the checks.
And there have been checks o' plenty.
>From there the Stars have just grinded and grinded, focusing more on
keeping the Oilers off the scoreboard than pressing up too much
themselves. While that may keep Hitchcock and the rest of the
coaching staff happy, it sure makes for some tense moments out in
the paying seats.
While the Stars have been lucky enough to hold off most of the
Oilers' threat, it appeared as if any of the games could have
easily gone the other way. Edmonton knows they were a few lucky
bounces away from being in this series. All three games were close
(2-1, 3-2, 3-2), and Dallas needed every minute of all three games
to make the winning plays and still hold off the furious Oilers
onslaught when desperation set in.
Ed Belfour has remained focused long enough so far to have given his
team the chance to win every game. When Edmonton did manage to get
some chances, they are usually all very deadly. If Belfour isn't
totally in the zone, they're in the net. No question.
On the other side of the coin, the Stars have not scored much,
mainly due to Edmonton goaltender Tommy Salo. Salo has stolen a
page directly from the CuJo book of shutting down the Dallas Stars,
and has turned away many quality scoring chances.
That is virtually the only reason Dallas' power play has gone silent
this series - Salo has flat out said no. No way, Chester. The power
play is a joke, going 0-fer-24 at last count. But it hasn't been from
a lack of chances. Dallas is making the right moves, the puck just
isn't going in.
Earlier in the series, Coach Hitchcock publicly challenged certain
players to score more. As of game two (besides Jere Lehtinen) -
Modano, Hull, and Nieuwendyk were goal-less up to that point.
"Being up, 2-0 [in the series], is very important for us," Stars
coach Ken Hitchcock said. "There was a sense of urgency from
lessons learned. I think we've learned how important Game 2 is for
the home team. And the really good thing is we know we've got
players who can play better."
That was a pretty veiled challenge, but Brett Hull got the meaning
of his coach's comments perfectly clear.
"Whenever we do score, we're always hearing about how we're the No.
1 checking line. He's [Hitchcock] always telling us we don't have
to score as long as we're doing all those other things [shutting
down the opposition's first line]. But when we don't score it's
like, 'Wait a minute. Why isn't it happening?' "
Hull has been a little frustrated so far, and this is the first time
he's spoken his mind since quite some time back. But you know what?
He's right. Hitchcock has to be happy with the game his team is
playing-it's exactly what he called for.
But never fear, Hully. You'll have the chance to open it up some
come round two. You won't have any other choice if the Stars are to
survive. Dallas absolutely will have to get timely goals from their
top scorers, including on the power play, if they are to have any
chance in surviving against teams like the Coyotes or Red Wings.
A Hero Emerges
Game one was a chance for an unlikely hero to emerge - and one
definitely did. It was none other than the oldest player currently
in the playoffs: the 39-year old master known as Guy Carbonneau.
During game one, both teams were feeling each other out as they
combined for only 7 shots total on goal during the first period.
Edmonton drew first blood late in the second frame when Rem Murray
scored at 18:54. Jere Lehtinen tied it up 13 seconds into the
third period. And the game was on.
For the remainder of the third period, Dallas awoke like a Yukon
grizzly coming out of hibernation: hungry and pissed off. The Stars
were nearly dominant as they refused to let the puck back into
their own end, and peppered Salo with chance after chance. Players
such as Carbonneau, Blake Sloan, and Dave Reid pulled every trick
out of the book to keep on the pressure. And if Dallas did falter,
Edmonton was quickly headed in the other direction. Luckily, Eddie
the Eagle bailed them out over and over.
They traded checks until only 6:53 remained of regulation time.
Then, Blake Sloan broke in for a shot - and Salo left a rebound that
Dave Reid deftly passed onto Carbonneau's stick. Guy then pulled
out his patented five-hole snapshot and beat Salo like a rented
goalie.
The miracle happened! Just as he single-handedly assured that the
Detroit series last year would go at least one more game,
Carbonneau scored the game-winning goal of the first game of the
first series, and allowed his team to get out to a good 1-0 jump at
home.
Game Two Antics
Game two was just as physical as game one, and Dallas held the Oil
to only 4 shots in the first period. Only this time, Carbonneau
decided he would open up the scoring - with a great wrist shot only
2:34 into the game.
Game one's hero sends the game-two crowd into a frenzy! Stars fans
spontaneously erupted into a thunderous chant of "GUUUUYYY!!" (just
think of yelling WHEEEE really loud-like, only beginning with a
hard 'G' instead of a soft 'WH.' And then - oh, never mind).
Throughout the game, the fans kept up giving Carbo his props
whenever he faced off or carried the puck. They also broke into the
usual "SALO! SALO!" and "LETS GO STARS" and the like. Ah, you get
the idea- quit yer whining.
Anyway, after Mike Grier tied it at 1-1, Jere Lehtinen and Jamie
Langenbrunner both scored to put the Stars up 3-1. In a typical
Dallas vs. Edmonton development, the Stars failed to hold back the
Oiler onslaught late in the third period and allowed Bill Guerin to
bring the Oil to within a goal of tying it. This time Belfour and
the crew were able to hold out long enough to pull of a crucial 2-0
lead in the series over their rivals.
But the victory came with a price. Carbonneau already had a
several-stitch gash healing on his cheek courtesy of an Oiler, and
was being banged up as badly as poor Darryl Sydor (who has played
very well in the face of the storm, by the way).
In the closing seconds of the third, Guy was heroically holding the
puck in the Oilers' zone, preventing Salo from leaving in favor of
an extra attacker. Carbo had seen enough of that jive before, Jack!
But in a rare bad decision, Guy was in the Oil's zone with the
bobbling puck. (ice at Reunion Arena was no better even with the
dehumidifiers, it was a slushy mess in a warm, humid barn- pretty
nasty) And instead of shooting the puck, Carbo sent it down low
behind the net- directly to an Edmonton player. In order to save
face, Carbonneau crashed into the Oiler and tried to repossess the
puck, and twisted his knee in doing so. He dropped to his knees as
the final buzzer sounded and then dejectedly got up and limped back
to the dressing room when he realized it was a good tear this time.
Just like that, Dallas was not only already facing the loss of their
captain and top-defenseman in Derian Hatcher, they also lost one of
their best face-off artists and penalty killers in Carbonneau. Yeah,
that'll suck.
Game Three Seals the Deal
Oh, did it look bad! The Oilers decided to quit banging and took it
straight to Belfour. The speedy Edmonton forwards turned the tables
on Dallas, waiting for any mistake and then very quickly speeding
back the other way towards the Eagle. Edmonton's much-fabled ice
did play a part, as most of the Stars were caught flat- footed by
the Oiler's major speed.
Edmonton quickly racked up a 1-0 lead courtesy of Ryan Smyth, who
clearly had something to prove after being a healthy scratch for
game two. Smyth had one goal called back, but quickly stormed back
in and scored a legal one just seconds later. What's up with that
funky face guard, anyway? Smyth looks like a flippin' rock 'em-sock
'em robot out there, for Pete's sake!
Both teams were held scoreless in the second frame. Edmonton had
another goal called back.
In the third period, Ryan "Rock 'Em" Smyth was at it again as he was
sniffing in the slot waiting for some gravy during a potent Oiler
rush. One Oiler whiffed on a shot and sent it low and wide of the
net, and for some reason, Belfour picked this time of the game to go
swimming.
Instead of dropping in the butterfly and watching it sail wide,
Eddie pulled off some sort of funky pad stack and strayed to the
side of his crease. He then went reaching behind him to try to seal
the open post with his goal stick, just as the puck went bouncing
off the boards and onto the waiting stick of Smyth. Smyth was
crashing beside the fallen Belfour and stole the puck directly from
the path of Belfour's stick and redirected it with a wicked
top-shelf backhander. That was one sweet goal.
Never mind the fact that Smyth's skate entered the crease prior to
the puck. The replay official still had to go home that night. They
weren't about to call back another goal! Edmtonton's crowd had
already gone loopy over the first two and threw stuff on the ice.
This goal counted.
The Oilers were up 2-0 and were putting the clamps on Dallas really
well. Then, just as the Stars had done before, they found some way
to explode in the third period and put wave after wave of glorious
pressure on the Edmonton net.
Mike Keane began the Stars' great comeback by putting them on the
board with a screened shot from the top of the circle. Then Mighty
Mikey Modano finally lit the lamp as he roofed a fat rebound left
by a sweet shot from Benoit Hogue.
Yes, Benoit Hogue was playing with Modano. As desperation was
setting in during the third period, Hitchcock pulled out the magic
8-ball to make the lines for him.
No matter, Modano scored to tie it - and the game was on - again.
Dallas fought very hard and well to steal any open ice they could
find in the Edmonton zone. They sent in some great shots, but Salo
wasn't yielding.
Well, not at least until 7:28 was left to play. Then another hero
emerged- none other than Joey Nieuwendyk. Nieuwy broke in with
Langenbrunner and leaned hard into a great pass from Jamie. The
wicked slapshot then sailed low and into the net. "Mr. Game Winner"
himself, the team's interim captain, scored yet another crucial
game-winner- for his team.
The Stars are now sitting pretty with a 3-0 stranglehold on the
series. Dallas has a chance to make it four- and-out on Tuesday
night. But, it is obvious the Oilers will not roll over and go
quietly. They never have. It should be interesting.
But no matter how weird things get, no matter how bad it looks, you
have to have faith. Dallas will find some way to win.
Parting Shots
* To make things worse for Dallas' depleted roster (Verbeek and
Carbonneau), Hatcher's usual defensive- partner in Richard
Matvichuk left game 3 with a re-strained groin. The Stars are
clearly going to need the remaining blueliners to step up in a big
way.
Edmonton also suffered as they were already without two key forwards
and then lost one of their top defensemen in Roman Hamrlik to a knee
injury. (what else?)
Luckily for Dallas, Sergei Zubov and Shawn Chambers have done a
brilliant job in keeping the D-men together while Sydor ducks and
tries to keep all his limbs intact. Chambers has logged tons of
tough, quality ice-time. And Zubov has not flinched once during all
the physical play, and kept right on pressing into the fire,
creating good chances and defensive plays. (He's nuts, I tell ya!)
* Hatcher will be back in two more games! They can't wait for Big
Daddy Hatch to come home. He will be very necessary in the
remaining rounds.
* Modano and Nieuwendyk finally got the monkeys off their backs, can
Brett Hull and Benoit Hogue be very far behind?
* Carbonneau is expected to miss 7-10 days with the knee. That's a
lot of leadership missing from the locker room (Hatcher and
Carbonneau). Luckily, the Stars still have three dressing present
and former captains (Nieuwendyk, Skrudland, and Keane).
* TIME TO BRING OUT THE BROOMS!!
