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June 7, 2000 SportsLine.com wire reports |
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A third overtime in the Finals. The Dallas
Stars. Brett Hull. The New Jersey Devils should have known better than to try
to win the Stanley Cup this way.
Gave: Belfour emerges as biggest Star in Game 5 Browne: Devils hope hangover from Game 5 loss doesn't linger This time, Modano supplies the game winner Audio: Devils goalie Martin Brodeur says the team has to regroup now Audio: Brodeur says it was a fun game and the Devils played well Audio: Brodeur describes the game-winning goal Audio: Brodeur says maybe the refs should call some penalties in OT
deflected in Hull's shot at 6:21 of the third overtime, ending
what was the longest scoreless overtime game in Finals history as the Stars
staved off elimination by beating the Devils 1-0 in Game 5 Thursday night.
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Hull threw the Stars' 41st shot of the game on the net from along the right wing boards and Modano, who hadn't scored a goal in the finals, pushed it between Martin Brodeur's pads.
"Modano was flying through the middle, going to the net," Brodeur said. "He hit it in midair and it went between my legs. They're so high now, so they've got hope and we've got to regroup."
The Stars won the Stanley Cup with Hull's third overtime goal in Game 6 against Buffalo last year, and this time kept from losing the cup by beating New Jersey in the third overtime of Game 5.
"It's great. We're running on fumes right now," Modano said. "This was a big winner. We're lucky we're going to see Saturday."
Game 6 will be Saturday night in Dallas, where the Devils seized their 3-1 lead by winning twice.
"We do have a cushion -- a little bit," Devils coach Larry Robinson said.
It was the fourth longest Stanley Cup finals game ever and, early in the third overtime, became the longest scoreless overtime finals game. Colorado beat Florida 1-0 on Uwe Krupp's goal at 4:31 of the third overtime to complete a four-game sweep in 1996.
The goal ended a duel between two of the NHL's best big-game goaltenders, the Devils' Brodeur and the Stars' Ed Belfour, both of whom have Stanley Cup rings.
Belfour, rebounding from a three-goal third period in a 3-1 loss in Game 4, made 48 saves. Brodeur made 40, but couldn't make the 41st.
"Eddie and Marty, to be honest, I don't think I've seen anything better since I've been in the league," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I thought we would have to take a timeout and probably finish next week. I didn't think anyone would score."
After the goal, Brodeur stood motionless in the crease, his head bowed and the puck sitting in the middle of the net.
Brodeur began his post-game news conference by saying, "Good morning," reflecting the early-morning finish.
"The fans certainly got their money's worth," Devils defenseman Scott Stevens said. "Both of these goalies were unbelievable."
The Devils, the first ever to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the conference finals, now are trying to avoid being the second team to lose a 3-1 lead in the finals.
The only team to accomplish it among the 25 that tried was Toronto, which won the final four games against Detroit in 1942 after falling behind 3-0.
The Stars are the third team in the last 19 years to keep from losing in a potential elimination game. Vancouver the last to do it, did so twice against the Rangers in 1994 before losing Game 7.
New Jersey has never lost any of the three playoff series it led 3-1 and Dallas has never won any of the eight it has trailed, never once forcing a single Game 7.
Now, the Stars can by winning Game 6 in Dallas, where the Devils seized control of the series by winning Games 3 and 4 in an arena where the Stars had won 11 of their previous 12 playoff games.
So far, there has been a road team advantage in the finals, with the Stars winning two of three in New Jersey and the Devils winning both games in Dallas.
The Devils, who talked repeatedly on Tuesday and Wednesday of the necessity of not letting Dallas get back into the series, lost for the second time in seven games since falling behind Philadelphia 3-1 in the Eastern Conference finals.
The long game helped make a pumped-up crowd -- one of the few such the Devils have played before at home this season -- less of a factor. There were gaps of empty seats as midnight passed in the second overtime, as even the possibility of a Stanley Cup presentation couldn't keep some sleepy fans from leaving.
As might have been expected in so important a game from two teams that have perfected the offense-stifling neutral zone trap, there was no scoring in regulation. That doesn't mean there weren't scoring chances.
Bobby Holik had two of the best for New Jersey. He hit the right post on an unguarded shot from the right circle midway through the second period, then missed wide of the net on a power play resulting from Jere Lehtinen's high-sticking penalty.
"He had six goals that could have gone in," Robinson said.
New Jersey also held off a Stars power-play flurry a few minutes before, with Brodeur stacking his pads to turn aside a Lehtinen shot from the slot.
 | |
| Martin Brodeur makes one of several outstanding saves in Game 5, but he would eventually let the winner slip through.(AP) |
Brodeur's wife, Melanie, was so worried she covered her eyes with one of the white towels handed out to the sellout crowd of 19,040. She opened them just in time to watch her husband make the save, and frantically jumped out of her seat to cheer.
The Stars had the best chances in the third, with Brodeur flopping to ice to stop Modano, and Lehtinen firing wide on a slick setup by Hull with about eight minutes left.
Holik's bad luck -- and bad shooting -- continued in the overtime, as he continued to get more good scoring chances than any other Devils player, but still couldn't convert.
The overtime was the Devils' first in the playoffs this season. They were within one game of the tying the 1991 North Stars' record for most playoff games (22) in a season without overtime.
It was only the eighth overtime game in the 2000 playoffs, a relatively low number -- but one was the five-overtime Flyers-Penguins game, the second-longest in NHL history.
The road team has now won the last 10 multiple-period overtime games.
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