Playoffs 2000:Stars give valiant effort

Stars give valiant effort
Associated Press

DALLAS -- When the disappointment of not winning their second straight Stanley Cup fades, the Dallas Stars will take pride in knowing they went down fighting.

Dallas' title defense ended at 8:20 of a second overtime Saturday night when Jason Arnott flipped the puck over goaltender Ed Belfour, giving the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 victory and the championship.

"We worked hard, played our best," Belfour said. "We just fell short."

The Stars extended the finals to a sixth game with a 1-0, triple-overtime victory in Game 5. They dragged this one out well past regulation, too, becoming the first team facing elimination to force consecutive overtimes.

"I'm probably more proud of my team this year than last," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Yes, we won last year, but this team went through so much and at the end was an eyelash away from bringing it back for a Game 7."

The fans in Reunion Arena showed their appreciation, serenading Belfour with the chant "Ed-die! Ed-die!" immediately after Belfour allowed just his second goal in 208 minutes, 33 seconds.

Then, as the Devils were about to receive the Cup, the crowd erupted again with a cheer of "Thank you, Stars."

"It's not supposed to work out this way," said Mike Keane, who scored Dallas' only goal.

The Stars gained home-ice advantage by winning the second game in New Jersey, then squandered it in Game 3. Dallas ended up losing all three home games after winning 11 of its previous 12 postseason games in Reunion.

"As well as we played here the first three series, then losing three in a row -- that's really something," center Mike Modano said. "Nobody ever would've guessed that."

Seeing the Cup passed around on the Reunion ice wasn't easy for the Stars, who had their celebration in Buffalo last year.

Defenseman Richard Matvichuk was among the players who had tears in his eyes as he walked off the ice. Hitchcock remained behind the bench, stunned and saddened.

"I know how hard it is to win the Cup and I know how hard it is to repeat," said New Jersey coach Larry Robinson, who won six as a player and one as an assistant coach. "They have nothing to hang their heads about. They gave us all we could handle and more."

The Stars were hoping a second straight title would prove them to be more than one-year wonders. Instead, they became the first defending champs to lose in the finals since the 1984 New York Islanders ended their four-year run as champs.

"We fought back," said Modano, who played an extraordinary amount of minutes to try juicing up the Dallas offense. "It's a great thing we accomplished here the last three years."

Belfour suffered a cold medicine-induced meltdown in Game 1, a 7-3 shelling in New Jersey, and he gave up three goals in a span of 3:41 in Game 4. He stopped 100 of the final 102 shots.

The final goal came on a pass from the corner to Arnott on the left side of the crease. Belfour blocked the bottom of the net and Arnott popped it into the top.

"It was a bang-bang play," said Belfour, whose performance all season and postseason was the main reason why Dallas made it this far. "Any time you give up a chance in the slot like that, it's going to be a big save or a big goal."

In the second period, he allowed a shorthanded goal to Scott Niedermayer, but the Devils' lead only lasted 69 seconds as Keane tied the game with a hard shot over the glove of New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur.

Dallas failed on four power plays in the game, including one caused by Arnott with 1:17 left in the first overtime.

Joe Nieuwendyk had two good scoring chances in the first overtime, but one went wide left and another was blocked before it got to Brodeur. The Stars technically had just two shots in the overtimes, but there were more scoring chances.

"I think it isn't one team that beats you went you're defending champs," Hitchcock said. "It's the cumulative effect of teams getting up for you."

Both teams lost key players to first-period injuries.

Dallas defenseman Darryl Sydor went down first with a leg injury that kept him from standing up; instead, he kept after the play by crawling across the ice. He was helped off and didn't return.

Hitchcock said Sydor suffered a high ankle sprain and would need six to eight weeks to rehabilitate.

New Jersey forward Petr Sykora had to be taken a hospital after taking a blow to the head from Stars captain Derian Hatcher. Although a CT scan showed Sykora was OK, he spent the night at Baylor University Medical Center for observation.