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Bald Eagle Belfour gets his bell rung in opener
Posted: Tuesday May 30, 2000 11:47 PM
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- This is not how Ed Belfour likes to hear his name yelled. The Stars goalie, who excelled in his battle against Colorado's Patrick Roy in the Western Conference finals, looked no better than ordinary Tuesday night as Dallas was routed by the New Jersey Devils 7-3 in the opener of the Stanley Cup finals. Belfour stopped all but 13 of the 204 shots the Avalanche sent towards him to advance to the finals, but allowed six pucks to get by him on only 18 shots by the Devils. As the bombardment got worse, Devils fans serenaded him with derisive chants of "Bel-four, Bel-four." When he finally left with 16:58 remaining, in favor of backup Manny Fernandez, the crowd chanted "Ed-die, Ed-die" and "Marty's Better." saluting New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur. It was the Stars' fans who made Roy's life unpleasant by creating a "Belfour's Better" chant.
Belfour had gone eight straight games allowing two goals or fewer, just two games shy of his own playoff record set in 1998. Not only didn't the Stars start the series at home, they didn't really start at all. Dallas, looking tired and slow, began a playoff series on the road for the first time since the 1995 conference quarterfinals against Detroit. The Stars, who lost to the Red Wings in five games, held home-ice advantage for their next 11 series. Belfour allowed three goals in the second period on just nine shots as New Jersey broke open a 1-1 game. Two of the goals can be pinned on Belfour, who was beaten twice on long shots by defensemen. Ken Daneyko, who had not scored in the regular season or playoffs, got a slap shot from the left point to trickle between Belfour's pads and give the Devils a 3-1 lead 2:52 into the middle period. Belfour, who had a sparkling 1.82 goals-against-average versus Colorado, looked even worse when Scott Stevens made it 4-1 with 3:56 left in the period. Jay Pandolfo carried the puck into the Dallas zone and dropped it to Stevens, who skated in just above the left circle and fired a shot that got under Belfour's left pad. Things didn't get any better in the third, but Belfour didn't stick around too long. Sergei Brylin scored at 2:21 and Petr Sykora got his second of the game to chase Belfour at 3:02. Fernandez allowed his only goal 2:10 later when Jason Arnott netted his second of the game. Dallas defenseman Darryl Sydor got the Stars even at 1 at 13:13 of the first. Jon Sim, playing in place of injured forward Jamie Langenbrunner, made it 7-2 at 7:43 of the third. Kirk Muller, a former New Jersey first-round draft pick, scored his second goal just 12 seconds later. Stars defenseman Derian Hatcher left the game in the third period with an apparent leg injury. No update was available on the Dallas captain before the game ended. The Stars don't have the time or the need to hang their heads. Last year Dallas became the 13th team to rally from losing the opener to win the Cup. Game 2 is Thursday night at Continental Airlines Arena.
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