Game Recap

DETROIT 3, DALLAS 2 DETROIT (AP) - The "Vladinator" was back in the house Sunday, and the Detroit Red Wings are one victory away from the Stanley Cup Finals. With injured defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov watching from a private suite, Vyacheslav Kozlov broke a tie at 11:30 of the third period, lifting the Red Wings to a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. Kirk Maltby and Steve Yzerman also scored for the Red Wings, who took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. Pat Verbeek and Sergei Zubov scored for the Stars. The Stars, who are 1-16-2 at Joe Louis Arena since the franchise moved from Minneapolis, will host Game 5 on Wednesday night in Dallas. If a sixth game is necessary, it will be played Friday night back in Detroit. "I know a lot of people think this is a bad building for us, but we're normally a good road team," Dallas defenseman Darryl Sydor said. "Right now, we're not looking at the big picture. "We've got to go out and play one game at a time. You've got to win one game before you can win three." The Stars, who scored three straight goals to make Detroit sweat out a 5-3 win in Game 3, opened this game with at least five quality chances in the first five minutes of play. But Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood came up with the save each time. "I think that was maybe as good as I've seen Osgood play, today," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. "When it was 2-2, we thought we were going to win the hockey game. It's a fine line between winning and losing." Ed Belfour was just as strong in the Dallas net. With 12:46 left in the second period, Belfour stretched his stick almost all the way across the crease to swat away what appeared to be an easy goal for Detroit forward Tomas Holmstrom. That prevented the Red Wings from taking a 3-0 lead. With the game tied at 2, Belfour had to be quick to cover the puck as Sergei Fedorov loomed near the crease. But Belfour had no chance as Kozlov, camped at the left side of the net, deflected Larry Murphy's shot from the top of the slot over the goalie's right shoulder for the game-winner at 11:30 of the third period. Steve Yzerman set up the play, grabbing a loose puck and weaving his way across two lines. Yzerman turned at the top of the left circle and fed the puck to Murphy. Dallas pulled Belfour with 1:18 left in the game and got two more good shots, but Osgood came through again. The Stars outshot Detroit, 30-23. "They were shooting the puck every chance they got," said Osgood, who was named the game's No. 1 star. "I had about three guys in front of me. They were really coming after us at the end. They were pretty desperate." Konstantinov, whose tough defense played a major role in helping the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup last year, had not watched his teammates play at Joe Louis Arena since the June 13 limousine accident which ended his career. Konstantinov and team massage therapist Sergei Mnatsakanov, injured in the same accident, viewed the game from team owner Mike Ilitch's private suite. Their presence was acknowledged only with an announcement on the public address system. But that was enough to trigger a thunderous 95-second ovation from the sellout crowd of 19,983 fans. "It was very emotional," Detroit forward Igor Larionov said. "When you hear all those people cheer, those people who love him. I was deeply touched when I saw his picture up on the (scoreboard) screen." DETROIT RED WINGS 3, Dallas Stars 2 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- DALLAS 0 1 1 2 DETROIT 2 0 1 3 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Detroit, Maltby 3, 7:02 (sh). 2, Detroit, Yzerman 4, 12:10 (pp). PENALTIES: Shanahan, Det (interference), 4:36; Fedorov, Det (cross-checking), 6:41; Hogue, Dal (roughing), 8:34; Bassen, Dal (charging), 10:05; Belfour, Dal, served by Lehtinen (tripping), 11:26; Modano, Dal (tripping), 13:02; Lapointe, Det (roughing), 18:22; Muni, Dal (roughing), 18:22; Kozlov, Det (tripping), 18:22. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 3, Dallas, Verbeek 3, 14:31 (en). PENALTIES: Hatcher, Dal (hooking), 11:52; Skrudland, Dal (holding stick), 17:03; Maltby, Det (interference), 19:43. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 4, Dallas, Zubov 4 (Lehtinen, Sydor), :55 (pp). 5, Detroit, Kozlov 6 (Murphy, Yzerman), 11:30. PENALTIES: Macoun, Det (interference), 9:14; Hatcher, Dal (roughing), 20:00; McCarty, Det (roughing), 20:00. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- DALLAS 10 10 10 30 DETROIT 10 6 7 23 POWER-PLAY: Dallas 1 of 6; Detroit 1 of 6. GOALIES: Dallas, Belfour 9-6 (23 shots-20 saves). Detroit, Osgood 11-5 (30-28). Referee-Dan Marouelli. Linesmen-Dan Schachte, Kevin Collins. A-19,983 (19,983).