Turns out the Smythe voters dropped the ball, giving the playoff MVP award to Joe Nieuwendyk for the six game-winning goals he scored, tying an NHL record, for Stanley Cup champion Dallas in the postseason.

Fact is, those game-winners wouldn't have been possible without the goaltending of Belfour, who outdueled, in succession, Grant Fuhr of St. Louis, Patrick Roy of Colorado and Dominik Hasek of Buffalo en route the title.

Halfway through the second round of this two-month tournament, we can only be certain of two things: There will be a new Conn Smythe winner this spring, because Nieuwendyk has been a virtual no-show so far; and Belfour is playing like he deserves it again.

"I'm feeling strong and focused," Belfour said Sunday night after extending his scoreless streak to 138 minutes, 53 seconds after his second consecutive shutout of San Jose. "That's the key for me. I'm seeing the puck well, and the guys are playing great in front of me."

He'll have his work cut out for him in a hostile city where fans still harbor ill feelings toward him for leaving the Sharks and signing as a free agent with Dallas two years ago.

"It's a really good feeling going into the building 2-0," he said.

But anointing Belfour the leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy is a bit premature, even if his encore performance this spring is even better than last. Belfour is one of a half-dozen goaltenders and several skaters in the race for the postseason prize. In the 35-year history of the trophy, goaltenders have won it 11 times, but just three times in the past 12 years. Other than his three shutouts against No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in the Western Conference, Belfour's comparative statistics are rather pedestrian.

The early favorite for the Conn Smythe is Ron Tugnutt, who is guiding the long-shot Pittsburgh Penguins on what so far has been an incredible journey. The No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference easily dispatched Southeast Conference champ Washington in the first round and Monday led No. 1 seed Philadelphia 2-0 in their best-of-7 series.

Tugnutt owned two shutouts, blanking his opponent in the opening game of both series. He had stopped all but one of 74 shots the Flyers had directed his way through two games. His goals-against average of 1.27 and his save percentage of .961 led all goalies in the post-season.

Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy had allowed just one goal on 55 shots against Detroit, the highest-scoring offense in the NHL this season, but he has serious competition from the trophy from teammates Peter Forsberg and defenseman Raymond Bourque. Forsberg had the game-winning goal in three consecutive games before Monday and has been a man among boys against the archrival Red Wings. And if Bourque, at age 39 in his 21st NHL season, leads the postseason in ice time as he is doing so far and the Avs win the Stanley Cup, he'll be a sentimental favorite for the trophy regardless of how many points he scores.

As he did in the regular season, Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr leads the playoffs in scoring. He, too, had three consecutive game-winning goals heading into Tuesday night's game against Philadelphia. But is he more valuable to his team than Tugnutt, as voters thought Nieuwendyk was to Dallas last spring?

Stay tuned. It's still early, but here are some performances worth monitoring as the tournament approaches the halfway point (through Sunday):

• Ron Tugnutt, Pittsburgh goaltender, seven games: 6-1, 2 shutouts, 1.27 GAA, .961 save percentage.
• Martin Brodeur, New Jersey goaltender, six games: 5-1, 1 shutout, 1.34 GAA, .945 save percentage.
• Ed Belfour, Dallas goaltender, seven games: 6-1, 3 shutouts, 1.57 GAA, .927 save percentage.
• Patrick Roy, Colorado goaltender, seven games: 6-1, 1 shutout, 1.58 GAA, .936 save percentage.
• Chris Osgood, Detroit goaltender, six games, 4-2, 2 shutouts, 1.68 GAA, .940 save percentage.
• Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh right wing, seven games: 6 goals, 7 assists for 13 points, plus-4, 4 game-winning goals.
• Peter Forsberg, Colorado center, six games: 3-4--7, plus-4, 3 game-winning goals.
• Mike Modano, Dallas center, seven games: 4-3--7, plus-2, 1 game-winning goal.
• Ray Borque, Cororado defenseman, seven games: 0-5--5, plus-3, 30:15 per game.

Record in reach for Jagr

Jaromir Jagr has had the game-winning goal in three consecutive playoff games. Peter Forsberg also had a three-game streak, but it ended Monday night against Detroit. The record is four. Here's the list:

• 4: Clark Gillies, N.Y. Islanders, April 7-15, 1977.
• 3: Roy Conacher, Boston, April 11-16, 1939.
• 3: Craig Laughlin, Washington, April 5-12, 1984.
• 3: Kevin Stevens, Pittsburgh, April 19-23, 1991.
• 3: Jarmir Jagr, Pittsburgh, May 11-17, 1992.
• 3: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh, May 23-28, 1992.
• 3: Peter Forsberg, Colorado, April 21-29, 2000.
• 3: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh, April 21-29, 2000.

Nolan limping toward Game 3

San Jose coach Darryl Sutter has told his team to expect to carry on without captain Owen Nolan for the rest of the series against Dallas. At least that's what Sutter is saying in public.

Nolan, suffering from a sore foot and a tender shoulder, wasn't happy about sitting out Game 2, in which he expected to play.

"It's really frustrating to sit, especially in a 1-0 game," said Nolan, who said he wasn't sure whether he'd get medical clearance to play in Game 3 on Tuesday. "It's something where you never know what's going to happen. This was not my decision."

Expect him to play if he can get the skate boot over his swollen foot, which was injured when he threw himself in front of an Al MacInnis slapshot in Game 7 at St. Louis.

The final word

"This is the year 2000, not the year 1960. I don't know what they're trying to prove, but they don't scare us. I'll take anything to take a win. I know I look terrible. I looked like a chicken out there, but I just have to do whatever it takes to win." -- Lithuanian-born defenseman Darius Kasparaitis of Pittsburgh, after refusing to fight after he was mugged by Philadelphia's Keith Jones.