Game Recap

DALLAS 4, COLORADO 2 DALLAS (AP) - Whatever mystique Patrick Roy held over the Dallas Stars is gone. The winningest goaltender in playoff history couldn't hold up under a 45-shot assault Monday night, allowing third-period goals to Joe Nieuwendyk and Mike Modano as Dallas beat Colorado 4-2 to even the Western Conference finals at a game apiece. "We didn't have much of a choice but to keep firing the puck," Nieuwendyk said. "Patrick's been in a bit of a zone the last week to 10 days so we couldn't be satisfied with just one shot and then exit the zone. We were getting good looks and eventually we found some holes." The Avalanche, who had won five straight since trailing Detroit 0-2 in the second round, lost on the road for the first time in the playoffs. Their seven straight postseason road wins tied the NHL record. The Avalanche will host Games 3 and 4 Wednesday and Friday at McNichols Arena, where they are 2-4 this postseason. "We're going home and it's now the best out of five," Colorado coach Bob Hartley said. "We're not happy with our performance, but let's not go crazy over this." Stars coach Ken Hitchock had told his team to be more physical and more aggressive on offense after not doing enough of either in a 2-1 loss Saturday night. They responded immediately. "We played this game as if it was a seventh game, and that's the way we need to play the rest of the way," Hitchcock said. "We need to be a street fighter." Roy, whose seven stops in the final minutes of Game 1 preserved his 108th playoff win, had not seen this many shots in a playoff game since 1997. "They were desperate," Roy said. "They really needed the game. It seems to me that we didn't understand that." Dallas matched its Game 1 total of 31 shots on its first swat of the third period Monday night. The Stars outshot the Avalanche 15-1 in the final period as they racked up their most attempts since trying 56 in a triple-overtime victory in the first round. "Patrick gives us a chance every game," Hartley said. "We took some bad penalties, we gave them some power plays and they have a great hockey club, so they didn't get 45 shots by luck." Ed Belfour faced 19 shots in the game. While it wasn't nearly as many as Roy, he denied plenty of good scoring opportunities. Both goals he allowed were on rebounds, just like in Game 1. The Game 2 scorers were Sandis Ozolinsh on a first-period power play to put Colorado up 1-0 and a diving shot by Milan Hejduk that made it 2-2 in the second period. Dallas' early goals came from unlikely sources. Dave Reid scored for the first time in 20 playoff games and Sergei Zubov fired in his first of the postseason. With 13:02 left, Verbeek appeared to put the Stars up 3-2 when he used his skate and stick to nudge the puck by Roy. Having it wiped away motivated Dallas, much like a called-off goal sparked Colorado in Game 1. "We really dug in," Verbeek said. "We started to win 1-on-1 battles and we got two goals after that." Five minutes later, Nieuwendyk screened Roy on a Verbeek shot that the goalie was able to stop. Nieuwendyk reacted first to the rebound and flicked it into the net. Derian Hatcher also assisted. Modano, who assisted on Zubov's goal that put Dallas up 2-1, fired the puck over Roy a few minutes later on a power play. Modano has a five-game scoring streak with three goals and five assists in that span. Modano's goal was Dallas' lone tally on seven man-advantages. The only bad news for Dallas was losing veteran forward Benoit Hogue to a torn ligament in his left knee. He'll be out the rest of the playoffs. DALLAS STARS 4, Colorado Avalanche 2 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Colorado 1 1 0 2 Dallas 1 1 2 4 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Colorado, Ozolinsh 3 (Lemieux, Forsberg), 10:32 (pp). 2, Dallas, Reid 1 (Skrudland, Sloan), 14;11. PENALTIES: Ludwig, Dal (elbowing), 1:56; de Vries, Col (cross-checking), 5:30; Hatcher, Dal (roughing), 8:52; de Vries, Col (elbowing), 15:11; Lefebvre, Col (hooking), 16:42. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 3, Dallas, Zubov 1 (Modano), 4:56. 4, Colorado, Hejduk 6 (Foote, Fleury), 14:59. PENALTIES: Belfour, Dal, served by Verbeek (slashing), 11:06; Fleury, Col (tripping), 16:04; Modano, Dal (slashing), 18:05; Foote, Col (slashing), 18:05; Sakic, Col (ob.-hooking), 18:32; Fleury, Col (roughing), 18:32; Sydor, Dal (slashing), 18:32. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 5, Dallas, Nieuwendyk 7 (Verbeek, Hatcher), 11:52. 6, Dallas, Modano 5 (Zubov, Hatcher), 16:28 (pp). PENALTIES: Fleury, Col (ob.-tripping), 2:46; Hatcher, Dal (elbowing), 12:19; Hejduk, Col (elbowing), 14:39. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Colorado 11 7 1 19 Dallas 15 15 15 45 POWER PLAY: Colorado 1 of 4; Dallas 1 of 7. GOALIES: Colorado, Roy 9-5 (45 shots-41 saves). Dallas, Belfour 9-3 (19-17). Referees: Mark Faucette, Bill McCreary. Linesmen: Wayne Bonney, Jay Sharrers. A:17,001 (16,928).