Belfour bounces back, boosts Stars
Associated Press
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Ed Belfour didn't feel like he had
anything to prove, he just needed to feel better.
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| Belfour |
He did Thursday night as the Dallas Stars beat the New Jersey
Devils 2-1 to even the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals 1-1.
The series shifts to Dallas for the next two games, Saturday and
Monday, before returning to New Jersey for Game 5.
Belfour allowed six goals on only 18 shots in the opener two
nights earlier while fighting a cold with medication, but rebounded
with a 27-save effort to atone for the 7-3 defeat. Brett Hull
scored both Dallas goals to make sure Belfour's performance was not
wasted.
"I know I didn't feel good after the first game," he said. "I
just tried to forget about it and get ready for tonight. Just
prepare the same way and go out there and try and do my best.
"I felt a lot stronger and I was seeing the puck well. I
definitely felt a lot more back on track."
The only questions Belfour, 9-0 after Dallas losses, had to
answer about his first-game performance were from reporters and not
from his teammates.
"I think a lot of people have made a big deal of this," coach
Ken Hitchcock said. "I think that anybody that knows what it's
like to play goal understands that if you don't have energy and you
are a step late, you are going to get scored on."
The Stars dropped the opener of the finals for the second
straight year only to even the series in the next game.
History is much more in the Stars' favor, with Game 2 winners
winning the title in 25 of the last 28 years. There have only been
three teams to win after falling behind 2-0 since the finals went
to a best-of-seven in 1939.
"To come out even, I think it gives everybody in our room a big
boost in the arm," Hull said.
The defending Stanley Cup champions now have the home-ice
advantage they held for 11 straight series prior to the finals. The
Stars are 9-1 in these playoffs at Reunion Arena.
"We have to go home and get ready for Game 3 with the same
attitude and the same team effort," Belfour said. "It is
definitely going to be a real competitive game and they're going to
be a lot better."
Hull scored once in the first period and again with only 4:16
left -- snapping a 1-1 tie.
Belfour kept the Devils at bay for the final 47:18 of the game --
including several key stops in the final period.
Devils forward Claude Lemieux, a renowned playoff star, was
denied on a shot and rebound in close midway through the period and
New Jersey checker Randy McKay couldn't convert on two occasions.
Sergei Nemchinov got a pass over to McKay in the opening three
minutes of the third, but Belfour was able to slide over and keep
the puck out with his stick. Just over four minutes later, McKay
found himself open in the slot, only to be turned away when his
shot, ticketed for between Belfour's pass, didn't get through fast
enough.
Dallas' top line of Hull, Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen was held
to just one point, an assist by Lehtinen, in the opening loss. The
trio has scored 26 of the Stars' 48 playoff goals this year.
The line also managed to shut down New Jersey's top line of
Patrik Elias, Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora, which had 11 points in
the opener.
Hull's first goal was set up by Modano and defenseman Richard
Matvichuk. His second came when he chopped down a fanned shot by
Lehtinen, deflecting it past Martin Brodeur.
The Stars looked better as a whole, picking up their physical
play to counteract the Devils.
Hitchcock said before the series that the Stars would not sit
back and absorb punishment from tough defenseman Scott Stevens and
the rest of the Devils.
With only 4:10 gone in the game, Mike Keane met Devils forward Jay Pandolfo with a check between the teams' benches. Keane sent Pandolfo into the glass, shattering it onto the carpet leading to
the dressing rooms.
The Stars didn't let up.
A little over a minute before Hull's game-winner, Dave Manson
leveled Lemieux at neutral ice.
"I think that all falls into the same category of us being
ready to play," captain Derian Hatcher said.
The Stars were embarrassed after Game 1. Now the goalie and the
rest of the team feel a whole lot better. |
