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Mo' to come Modano ends epic and extends Cup finals
By Chris Stevenson, SLAM! Sports EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The ABC network pre-empted Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Thursday night to show Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. It was replaced by Which Millionaire Wants To Be A Hero? The final answer was Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars. Racing through the middle of the ice, he deflected a shot by Brett Hull behind New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur at 6:21 of the third overtime period to give Dallas a 1-0 win and allow the Stars to fight another day. They now trail the best-of-seven final 3-2 with Game 6 set for Saturday night in Dallas. "We can't wait to get home in front of our fans and see if can go another day," said Modano, whose goal ended the fourth-longest game in finals history and the longest scoreless game. "We felt if we got this one, we'd be back here Monday night [for Game 7]. That was our train of thought going in, but we weren't going to see Saturday or Monday night without this one. It's a big momentum changer."
They combined to stop all but one of the 89 shots taken in the marathon. "I don't think I've seen anything better since I've been coaching in the league, two guys going at it like that," said Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock. "I felt like we were just going to have to take a timeout and play next week or something, because I didn't think anybody was going to score. There were a lot of quality chances on both sides. I think the determination level of those two guys was incredible." You knew it would end on just that type of goal. Hull kept the puck in at the blue line and had his first shot blocked. The puck came back to him and he just fired it at the net. Modano, leading New Jersey defenceman Vladimir Malakhov to the net, had the puck bounce in off him. "I saw Hull just trying to dump it in," said Brodeur. "Modano was flying through the middle and he just hit it through mid-air. It went through my legs, I think, I'm not sure. "There's no doubt they're still alive, so for them there is still hope. We have to regroup and try and finish them next game." The Devils had the best chances in the early stages of overtime. Four minutes in, Devils forward Bobby Holik, around the net all night, took the puck to the hole. It bounced off somebody in front and then glanced off the right post before it was scooped away by Dallas defenceman Derian Hatcher. Holik had another chance around the nine-minute mark, alone in front, but Claude Lemieux's pass eluded him. New Jersey's Sergei Brylin was alone in front a minute later and was stopped. Five minutes into the second overtime, Dallas defenceman Derian Hatcher was alone in front off a rush, the winner on his stick, and Brodeur's blocker turned it back.
Mike Keane of the Stars snapped a shot with four minutes to go in the second OT and with Dallas defenceman Dave Manson already starting to celebrate the goal, Brodeur got his blocker on it. But he couldn't find Modano's winner on a bang-bang play. "The guys are down a little bit," said Devils coach Larry Robinson. "But we do have a cushion. It was a great game. We hit three posts and Bobby Holik could have had six goals. Mogilny had a breakaway. Ed Belfour just stood on his head." 
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