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One and done Stars hope to continue trend, close out Oilers
Posted: Thursday April 20, 2000 08:26 PM
DALLAS (AP) -- The Dallas Stars, experts of the postseason knockout punch, will try delivering another one Friday night. Dallas goes into Game 5 against the Edmonton Oilers needing one more victory to advance to the second round. Since 1998, the last six times the Stars have won a third playoff game, they've fiunished series immediately with a fourth victory. "It doesn't matter who we're playing against, we have the knowledge of what it takes to close out a team," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "That's very, very valuable. Now we've got to put it on the ice and get it done." The Oilers aren't conceding anything, even though they've lost 11 straight games at Reunion Arena. Much fresher in the minds of Edmonton players is their 5-2 victory in Game 3 and a hard-fought 4-3 loss in Game 4. They're also pointing to the 1998 postseason, when they overcame a 3-1 deficit to Colorado. "That's the feeling I have now, that there is no way we're ready to be done," Oilers center Jim Dowd said. "The feeling in the dressing room is that we've been in every one of these games. And everyone knows that the fourth game is the toughest game to win, to eliminate a team." Added incentive for Dallas is brewing in the San Jose-St. Louis series. Should the Sharks, who lead 3-1, pull off the upset, then the Stars would become the top seed in the West. The biggest incentive for Dallas, though, is to end this series immediately and get a few extra days off no matter who they play next. "The teams are both so desperate," forward Mike Keane said. "Edmonton doesn't want to go home and we don't want to go back to Edmonton. "When teams are playing for their lives, that's when it's toughest. Momentum can change very quickly, so we've got to make sure we've got good jump and are ready to play from the get-go." The Stars threatened to end this series early by winning the first two games rather convincingly. Edmonton didn't lead either game and was hardly able to get off shots against a hard-checking Dallas defense. A frenzied home crowd helped the Oilers jump back into the series with three goals in the first period of Game 3. Another loud crowd was on hand for Game 4, but Dallas endured to come home with a split. Now the Stars hope to get the same raucous support from their fans. The Reunion Rowdies, as they were known in the Dallas Mavericks' heyday, were great during last summer's Stanley Cup run but may have been spoiled by success. There were lots of empty seats for the first two games of this series and the noise level was ordinary. "Speaking to the guys, they said it can get going pretty good here, too," said Kirk Muller, who joined the Stars in December. "There's certainly a lot of great support in this city. I'm sure they'll be out in full force." Defenseman Sergei Zubov practiced for Dallas on Thursday, but is still questionable for Game 5 because of a knee injury. "We'll wait and see how he comes through this [practice]," Hitchcock said.
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