Game Recap

DALLAS 3, EDMONTON 2 EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Even though they're making it tough on the Edmonton Oilers, the Dallas Stars haven't made it easy for themselves in their Western Conference series. For the second time in the series, the Stars spotted the Oilers the early lead before coming back to win 3-2 Sunday night. "I'm proud of how we came back because they're a young aggressive hockey club and they're not going to go away," said Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock after his team took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. "I thought that when we turned it on in the third, we got our game going and made the most of our chances." Ryan Smyth had scored power-play goals in the first and third periods before the Stars rallied to win on late goals by Mike Keane, Mike Modano and Joe Niuewendyk. "There's not much to choose between these two hockey clubs right now," added Hitchcock. "Every game has been a one-goal game and the difference between winning and losing is a pretty fine line. That's why this game is so important for us because we stayed on the right side of that fine line." The Oilers had a tough night, with two goals disallowed. "It's hard to take, but we know we could look at ourselves for the reasons," Smyth said. "After we got our second goal, we sat back a little and let them take control of the game. They shot the puck when they had an opening and good things could happen when you do that." The top-ranked Stars can finish a sweep with a victory on Tuesday night against the eighth-ranked Oilers. Only two teams in NHL history have come back from 3-0 deficits in a best-of-7 series -- the last the New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1975. Dallas eliminated the Oilers in five games in last year's conference semifinals. Keane scored Dallas' first goal on a long wrist shot and Modano popped in a rebound at 10:20 to tie it. Nieuwendyk then beat Oilers goaltender Tommy Salo with a 50-foot wrist shot at 12:32. Nieuwendyk skated to the edge of the left circle and put a shot over Salo's glove that gave the Stars their third one-goal victory in as many games. Dallas also won for the second time in the series when trailing after two periods. Dallas Stars 3, EDMONTON OILERS 2 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 0 0 3 3 Edmonton 1 0 1 2 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Edmonton, Smyth 1 (Weight, Guerin), 15:25 (pp). PENALTIES: Hrkac, Dal (roughing), 2:19; Beranek, Edm (roughing), 2:19; Grier, Edm (interference), 3:14; Moreau, Edm (slashing), 7:55; Niinimaa, Edm (holding), 11:27; Chambers, Dal (tripping), 13:55; Matvichuk, Dal (roughing), 14:20; Nieuwendyk, Dal (tripping), 19:38. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: Falloon, Edm (ob.-holding stick), :30; Ludwig, Dal (elbowing), 2:49; Hull, Dal (slashing), 6:45; Beranek, Edm (interference), 9:06; Falloon, Edm (interference), 12:53; Sloan, Dal (high-sticking), 16:12; Chambers, Dal (roughing), 18:25; Marchant, Edm (roughing), 18:25; Lehtinen, Dal (elbowing), 18:52. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 2, Edmonton, Smyth 2 (Guerin, Poti), :24 (pp). 3, Dallas, Keane 1 (Hrkac, Lukowich), 6:15. 4, Dallas, Modano 1 (Hogue), 10:20. 5, Dallas, Nieuwendyk 1 (Langenbrunner, Zubov), 12:32. PENALTIES: Skrudland, Dal (ob.-holding), 11:25; Grier, Edm (roughing), 11:25. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 7 11 10 28 Edmonton 8 7 7 22 POWER PLAY: Dallas 0 of 6; Edmonton 2 of 7. GOALIES: Dallas, Belfour 3-0 (22 shots-20 saves). Edmonton, Salo 0-3 (28-25). Referees: Dave Jackson, Dan Marouelli. Linesmen: Gord Broseker, Tim Nowak. A:17,100 (17,100).