Facing elimination
Red Wings can wrap up series with win Wednesday night
Posted: Wednesday June 03, 1998 10:39 AM
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The Stars will try to become the first team ever to come back from a 3-1 deficit in a conference championship series (AP) |
DALLAS (AP) -- The Dallas Stars aren't thinking about shaking hands with the Detroit Red Wings.
"That's the last thing on my mind right now," Stars goalie Eddie Belfour said Tuesday of the hand-shaking ritual that follows a clinching victory in the NHL playoffs.
Detroit leads the series 3-1 and can wrap up a berth in the Stanley Cup finals with one more victory tonight in game 5.
History is on the Red Wings' side. No NHL team has ever overcome a 3-1 deficit in the conference championships.
Since the NHL went to two conferences in 1968, 26 teams have fallen into 3-1 holes in the conference finals. None has escaped.
More than 65 percent (17-of-26) have lost in Game 5, while only one team, the New York Islanders, who trailed Philadelphia 3-1, pushed the series to seven games.
Mike Modano, normally the Stars' most-explosive scorer, but limited to one goal this series, said the two teams have played evenly, except that every time the Stars make an error, Detroit makes them pay.
"It is just one or two things that cost us the game," Modano said. "It is a never-ending battle with little mental breakdowns we have during the game. It all adds up."
Dallas defenseman Darryl Sydor added: "We played a lot of solid hockey (in Detroit). But against that team, a lot is not enough. It takes the full 60 minutes."
Red Wings center Steve Yzerman leads all playoff scorers with 19 points, and the Wings have five of the top nine scorers in the postseason. Larry Murphy and Nicklas Lidstrom are both plus-9. The best plus-minus on the Dallas defense is Sydor's plus-5.
The defending Stanley Club champion Red Wings split the first two games of the series in Dallas, then swept the next two in Detroit.
"When you're facing elimination, you have to decide how bad you want to keep playing hockey," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said.
"That's easy to say, but it's hard to do. People get overcome with the responsibility of winning three games. You have to keep your focus on the little details of the game."
Detroit is seeking to become the first repeat champion since Pittsburgh in 1992.
Coach Scotty Bowman of Detroit said the Red Wings have played like champions in crunch time.
"We have done a good job of playing well when the games have been on the line," Bowman said. "But we can't let down. We have too much respect for Dallas to do that."
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NHL Finals
