Game Recap

DALLAS 5, SAN JOSE 4 SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Joe Nieuwendyk had two goals, including the go-ahead score, and Dallas added two short-handed goals in a 5-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Friday night. The nine goals were one more than the teams' total output in three previous games. "It was a crazy game," said Niewendyk. "We gave up too many opportunities to them, but we're happy with the output on the other end. We got away with one, but we're going to have to tighten up when we go home." The defending Stanley Cup champions took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals. The Stars can clinch the series with a victory against San Jose in Game 5 at Dallas on Sunday. "It's a great opportunity for us to go in front of our home fans and put the hammer down," Nieuwendyk said. "We don't want to come back here." Both San Jose goalie Steve Shields and Dallas goalie Ed Belfour, who had kept a lid on scoring in their previous games, struggled in this one. There were three short-handed goals, two by Dallas, and San Jose converted twice on the power play. A frustrated Belfour drew successive roughing penalties around a goaltender interference call on Dave Lowry in the final period, but withstood the resulting San Jose power play. "This was desperate hockey by both sides," said Dallas' Kirk Muller. "There were mistakes here and there and we both capitalized. It was a game of mistakes and we just tried to minimize them." San Jose pulled Shields in the final minute for an extra attacker, but Belfour stuffed Patrick Marleau's shot from up close with 40 seconds remaining. "We had our opportunities," said Mike Ricci, who had a goal for San Jose. "We had enough goals to win. We didn't play well defensively." Belfour had allowed only two goals in three previous games, twice shutting out the Sharks. Shields, who stopped 28-of-33 shots, had given up only two goals in the previous two games since a 4-0 loss in the series opener. "This was definitely an opportunity to beat them, but we just didn't step up," San Jose's Jeff Norton said. Nieuwendyk's first goal, off a rebound that Shields just missed covering up, gave the Stars a 4-3 lead before the game was tied for a fourth time on Todd Harvey's power-play goal from the slot after a centering pass by Marleau at 14:07 of the second. Nieuwendyk then scored again, putting the Stars up by a goal heading into the final period. Owen Nolan forged a 3-3 tie when he answered Dallas' second short-handed score with one for the Sharks. He took the puck away from Derian Hatcher at the blue line and broke for the Dallas net, where he flipped the puck over Belfour's shoulder for his eighth goal of the playoffs. Sergei Zubov had put Dallas up 3-2 with a short-handed score, getting a lead pass from Mike Modano and beating Shields with a shot on the goalie's stick side. A Stars turnover led to Ricci's fifth goal of the playoffs, which tied it 2-2. The Stars had gone in front on a short-handed breakaway just 1 1/2 minutes after San Jose converted on a two-man advantage on Vincent Damphousse's first goal of the playoffs. Modano and Guy Carbonneau also scored for Dallas. Dallas Stars 5, SAN JOSE SHARKS 4 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 2 3 0 5 San Jose 2 2 0 4 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Dallas, Modano 6 (Hull, Morrow), 1:08. 2, San Jose, Damphousse 1 (Friesen, Suter), 8:52 (pp). Dallas, Carbonneau 2 (Keane), 10:21 (sh). 4, San Jose, Ricci 5 (Sundstrom, Sturm), 17:34. PENALTIES: Marchment, SJ, double minor (high-sticking), 4:09; Nieuwendyk, Dal (roughing), 7:21; Hatcher, Dal (high-sticking), 8:31; Sloan, Dal (interference), 14:25; Hatcher, Dal (interference), 19:54. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 5, Dallas, Zubov 1 (Modano, Langenbrunner), :56 (sh). 6, San Jose, Nolan 8, 7:48 (sh). 7, Dallas, Nieuwendyk 2 (Modano, Hull), 10:52. 8, San Jose, Harvey 1 (Marleau, Korolyuk), 14:07 (pp). 9, Dallas, Nieuwendyk 3 (Langenbrunner, Thornton), 18:07. PENALTIES: Rathje, SJ (holding), 5:57; Muller, Dal, double minor (high-sticking), 11:52. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: Belfour, Dal, served by Gavey (roughing), 3:03; Lowry, SJ (goalie interference), 3:03; Belfour, Dal, served by Hull (roughing), 3:40; San Jose bench, served by Lowry (too many men), 6:05; Marleau, SJ (high-sticking), 9:05. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 13 15 5 33 San Jose 12 12 11 35 POWER PLAY: Dallas 0 of 5; San Jose 2 of 7. GOALIES: Dallas, Belfour 7-2 (35 shots-31 saves). San Jose, Shields 5-6 (33-28). Referees: Lance Roberts, Bill McCreary. Linesmen: Scott Driscoll, Ray Scapinello. A: 17,483 (17,483).