| |
|
|
 Bring on Buffalo Stars fall on Avalanche, bring Stanley Cup finals to Texas
Posted: Saturday June 05, 1999 10:36 PM
DALLAS (CNN/SI) -- If Mike Keane continues his torrid pace, he'll need to find a place for yet another Stanley Cup tattoo -- his third. Keane, who has images of the two trophies he's won on his left ankle, helped propel Dallas to the Cup finals by beating former teammate Patrick Roy twice as the Stars defeated Colorado 4-1 Friday night, June 4, in a Game 7 showdown. Dallas opens the series against Buffalo on June 8 in the first Stanley Cup finals in Texas. "I'm not a goal scorer," said Keane, who nonetheless put two past the all-time winningest playoff goalie within 4:05 of the second period to give Dallas a 3-0 lead. "I happened to be in the right place at the right time." Now Dallas is in the right place: the championship round, with home-ice advantage against Eastern Conference champion Buffalo. "There are a lot of talented teams in the National Hockey League, and there are probably teams with a higher skill level than our team ... but I have never seen a group that pulls the way this group does," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. "They take an awful lot of pride in not cracking." The Stars, who won their second straight Presidents' Trophy for the best regular-season record, are in the finals for the first time in their six years in Dallas. The franchise made it twice, losing both, when it was the Minnesota North Stars. The Avalanche failed in their bid for a second title in four years after holding a 3-2 series lead going back to Denver. The Game 7 loss was just their second on the road in 10 playoff games. Colorado had eliminated two-time defending Cup champions Detroit in the second round. "When you get this close, it's very disappointing," forward Claude Lemieux said. "We had quite a few chances in the first period and the bounces went their way. We had a lot of missed opportunities."
The Stars controlled all 60 minutes by constantly swarming the puck on defense and refusing to allow the Avalanche's speed advantage to become a factor. By dominating the tempo, Dallas produced the first three-period domination in this classic series between the two top-seeded teams in the West. "We knew if we played our game that we'd have a chance to win," Keane said. "We couldn't get into a shootout with them. The Dallas Stars take pride in defensive hockey." Joe Sakic said Colorado felt stifled by Dallas' defense. "There was not a lot of room to move," said Sakic, who scored the Avalanche's lone goal after they were down 4-0. The 17,001 fans began sensing the victory with 8:41 left as they began chanting, "We want the Cup!" In the game's closing minutes they screamed "Ed-die! Ed-die!" in honor of goaltender Ed Belfour. Belfour, who has gone a long way this postseason to erase his reputation for melting under pressure, stopped 18 of 19 shots to improve to 3-0 in Game 7s. "Everyone knows the things that have been said about him, but he's played so well for us in these playoffs," Stars captain Derian Hatcher said. "We never had any doubt he could play this way." Roy, whose reputation is exactly the opposite of Belfour's, dropped to 2-4 in deciding games. He was out of position on all four Dallas goals, getting faked badly on Keane's second and being behind the net on Jere Lehtinen's third-period capper. "We didn't give Patty too much help," Colorado forward Adam Deadmarsh said. "If we would've played a lilttle better defense in front of him, it would've made a difference." Colorado had just six shots in the first period as Dallas went ahead 1-0 on a Jamie Langenbrunner goal. The Avalanche didn't get a shot for the first 14:06 of the second period and had only three in the period as the Stars went up 3-0 on Keane's two goals. Keane, who has tattoos on his left ankle of the Cups he won with Montreal in 1993 and in Colorado with 1996, began his heroics with 8:47 remaining in the second period. With Roy looking to his right at Guy Carbonneau, Keane smacked the puck to the goalie's left for a 2-0 lead. A few shifts later, the fiery redhead scored the game-clinching goal by flat out beat Roy, with whom he was traded to Colorado from Montreal during the 1995-96 season. Keane charged untouched up the left side and went right at the goal, faking left and getting Roy to commit as he pulled the puck back. Falling, Keane slid the puck through the center of the crease and into the net, turning Reunion Arena into a madhouse. It was quite a moment for Keane, whom the Avalanche didn't re-sign after the 1997 season. He joined the New York Rangers and, when they were out of the playoff hunt, was traded to Dallas in March 1998. Keane said his performance Friday night and throughout this series "wasn't a matter of revenge." "My leaving Colorado was just a business decision," he said. "That happens in hockey 100 times a day." By reaching the finals, Dallas ended a four-year jinx for Presidents' Trophy winners. The Stars hope to have the same results as the 1994 New York Rangers, who won the Cup. In the Stars' only two Cup finals, Minnesota lost to the New York Islanders in five games in 1981 and in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991. Although the Stars and Sabres have never met in the postseason, the cities of Dallas and Buffalo are no stranger to a finals matchup. The Cowboys beat the Bills in the Super Bowls following the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
