Game Recap

DALLAS 2, BUFFALO 0 DALLAS (AP) - Fittingly, in a series so close that one goal can prove decisive, one-half inch of open net put the Dallas Stars one victory away from winning the Stanley Cup. Darryl Sydor scored a power-play goal in the second period and the Stars, the oldest team in the playoffs, held off the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 in yet another tightly played game Thursday night for a 3-2 Stanley Cup Finals lead. "We're one win from the Stanley Cup, and I don't think anybody feels old," the Stars' Mike Keane said. With the Stars' Ed Belfour matching Dominik Hasek save for save in the closest Stanley Cup Finals in years, the Stars can hoist their first cup by winning Game 6 Saturday in Buffalo. If not, Game 7 will be Tuesday in Dallas. The Sabres have scored only eight goals in five games and now face big odds. No team has rallied from a 3-2 deficit to win the Stanley Cup since Montreal in 1971. "This is so intense, the only confidence we have is we're up 3-2," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "There's no dominant player, no dominant area, it is absolutely a shift-by-shift battle. There's just no read on the series." Said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, "Our players believe they will be back here for Game 7." This is the lowest-scoring finals since 1947, when Toronto and Montreal also had only 19 goals through five games. Game 5 was only the second in the series decided by two goals; Dallas won Game 2 at home 4-2, the last goal finding an empty net. "The games are so tight," Ruff said. "The team that scores first gets the upper hand." The emotionally charged game ended with the coaches screaming at each other after the Stars killed off a late Buffalo power play. "I was angry because he was angry at me. We were both emotional. He was yelling at me, I was yelling back," Ruff said. Belfour, whose goals-against average in the series (1.60) is better than the better-known Hasek's (2.00), stopped 23 shots in his third shutout of these playoffs. So far, the Dominator, who stopped 19 shots, is being outdone by a goaltender who previously had a reputation for failing in the clutch. Belfour didn't win a game in his last finals for Chicago in 1992. "He's played in the shadow of a lot of goaltenders and I think he's taking advantage of this to do something," Sydor said. Hasek also gave up a third-period goal to Pat Verbeek. But Hasek said Sydor's goal decided it. With Dallas on the power play, Mike Modano threaded a pass from the right circle across the slot to Sydor in the lower-left circle. Hasek chose not to come out of the net and cut off the angle, allowing Sydor to lift the puck over the goaltender's left shoulder and under the crossbar at 2:23 of the second. "He put it in the corner, the one place I couldn't get it," Hasek said. "It was half an inch away, I just couldn't get it." Sydor didn't have any power-play goals in the playoffs, but his nine during the regular season were second only to Brett Hull's 15 among the Stars. Modano assisted on both goals and also debuted a black-and-blue line with Hull and Benoit Hogue. Modano has played with a serious wrist injury since Game 3, while Hogue has two torn knee ligaments and had been out since Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, and Hull missed Game 4 with a strained groin. Modano was fitted with a different cast on his left wrist, and it gave him more mobility. A key call also proved decisive -- not one by the referees, but rather a phone call between Modano and Hitchcock Thursday night. "I am able to say some things candidly to him that maybe I can't say to other players," said Hitchcock, who didn't reveal details. "He took it to heart and went about his business today." While Dallas finally broke through with a man-advantage, Buffalo's struggles on the power play continued. The Sabres went 0-for-3 in a physical game in which the referees overlooked most infractions and are 0-for-17 since scoring twice in Game 2. "At times we're thinking too much and trying to make the pretty plays," Sabres center Michael Peca said. "We have to win the one-on-one battles. We're going to lay it all on the line in Game 6, then come back here for Game 7." DALLAS STARS 2, Buffalo Sabres 0 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Buffalo 0 0 0 0 Dallas 0 1 1 2 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: Ludwig, Dal (ob.-tripping), 2:08. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Dallas, Sydor 3 (Modano, Zubov), 2:23 (pp). PENALTIES: Brown, Buf (interference), 1:42; Woolley, Buf (ob.-holding), 3:31; Langenbrunner, Dal (roughing), 7:44. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 2, Dallas, Verbeek 3 (Matvichuk, Modano), 15:21. PENALTIES: Sydor, Dal (roughing), 8:21; Primeau, Buf (roughing), 8:21; Warrener, Buf (slashing), 16:31; Zhitnik, Buf (elbowing), 17:27; Nieuwendyk, Dal (roughing), 17:27; Skrudland, Dal (ob.-tripping), 19:29; Warrener, Buf (roughing), 20:00; Hatcher, Dal (roughing), 20:00. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Buffalo 9 5 9 23 Dallas 8 7 6 21 POWER PLAY: Buffalo 0 of 3; Dallas 1 of 3. GOALIES: Buffalo, Hasek 13-5 (21 shots-19 saves). Dallas, Belfour 15-7 (23-23). Referees: Kerry Fraser, Don Koharski. Linesmen: Ray Scapinello, Jay Sharrers. A:17,001 (16,928).