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Stars stopper Roy ties Clint Benedict for career playoff shutouts
Posted: Saturday May 20, 2000 09:30 AM
DENVER (AP) -- Patrick Roy had the opposition seeing Stars again. Roy tied an NHL record with his 15th career playoff shutout as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 2-0 on Friday night. Shjon Podein and Adam Deadmarsh scored goals and rookie Martin Skoula had two assists as Colorado took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals. Game 4 is Sunday in Denver, where the Avalanche are 7-0 in the playoffs. Roy matched the shutout mark set by Clint Benedict of Ottawa and the Montreal Maroons in the 1920s, and extended his league record for playoff victories to 120. Roy, whose 21 saves included a stop on Brett Hull on a breakaway early in the third period, also beat Dallas 2-0 in the first game of the series. Asked what the shutout meant to him, Roy said, "It's not that important for me. I've never really been a shutout goaltender, but maybe I could have that habit now. "It's fun the way the guys are playing in front of me. Tonight, they were very sharp, and our penalty-killing was a big key. Killing those two penalties right off the start gave us momentum."
Roy insisted he wasn't aware of his lofty playoff shutout status "until the last time when I saw I was tied with Jacques Plante [for second place]. What's more important is to see the team play the way it is right now." Defenseman Ray Bourque returned to the Colorado lineup after missing four games because of a knee injury. He helped replace Adam Foote, the defenseman sidelined by an eye injury. "I didn't have any problems at all moving around and felt very comfortable," Bourque said. "This was a humongous win. Patrick was unbelievable. Really, all four lines played a super game." Dallas allowed 40 shots, its most in 13 games this postseason. Ed Belfour had 38 saves. Dallas' top four scorers in the playoffs -- Hull, Mike Modano, Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner -- failed to get off any shots in the first two periods. Modano, who scored two goals in Dallas' 3-2 win in Game 2 and holds the Stars' career playoff goal record, didn't get a shot the entire game. "I thought we were beat in pretty much every area," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I thought the reason we took penalties was because we were in our end all night. "Colorado has a very strong focus right now and is playing at a higher level than we are. If we expect to win Game 4 and extend this series, we're going to have to raise our level of play. In the gritty areas, they outplayed us tonight. They beat us to the loose pucks, they were stronger in front of our net than we were in front of their net." Modano said Belfour was "our best player. He kept us in the game. But when you don't have a lot of quality chances, if you don't get the puck to the net and create enough off the forecheck, you aren't going to beat that team. We wore ourselves out as penalty-killers." Colorado had 10 power plays compared to Dallas' three. The teams, who hadn't played since Monday night, skated to a fast-paced first period. Podein scored just 1:39 into the game, taking a pass from Chris Drury along the boards and beating Belfour from the slot. Podein's fifth goal of the playoffs marked his career high. Colorado later killed off two penalties, and Dallas withstood two short-handed situations, including a four-minute penalty on Mike Modano for a high-sticking incident that left Deadmarsh with a bloody nose. The Avalanche got off four shots on the Modano penalty, but Belfour was outstanding, including stops on Joe Sakic and Dave Andreychuk. Colorado, outworking the Stars, outshot Dallas 20-4 in the second period but managed only a power-play goal by Deadmarsh. The Avalanche, who had only seven shots on their first five power plays, finally broke through at 14:50. Sakic won a faceoff against Guy Carbonneau to the left of Belfour, and Skoula's long shot was redirected by Deadmarsh from in front of the goal. It was the first goal in nine games for Deadmarsh, who leads Colorado in scoring in the playoffs with four goals and 11 assists. Kirk Muller's double-minor for high sticking in the third period gave Colorado its ninth and 10th straight power-play opportunities, but Belfour and the Stars killed off the penalties. The teams also met in the conference finals last year, with Dallas prevailing 4-3 en route to winning the Stanley Cup. Colorado defenseman Greg de Vries required seven stitches to repair a cut over his right eye late in the first period but returned.
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