Game Recap

ST. LOUIS 4, DALLAS 2 DALLAS (AP) - The Dallas Stars knew they had to contain St. Louis' Pierre Turgeon, Keith Tkachuk and Scott Young. But Marty Reasoner? Reasoner, who played nearly as many games this season in the minors as he did the NHL, set up the Blues' first goal and scored the next two as St. Louis beat Dallas 4-2 Friday night in the opener of the Western Conference second-round series. "I don't think Dallas was too worried about me," said Reasoner, who played in only 1-of-6 games in the first round. "That's what the playoffs are all about," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said. "Sometimes guys you don't expect end up coming through for you -- not that we don't think Marty can do that." The Stars suffered another loss early in the second period when center Mike Modano knocked legs with Alexei Gusarov. Modano limped off the ice with an injured left ankle and did not return. He left the arena wearing a walking boot. An MRI exam Saturday will determine whether Modano, who leads Dallas with three goals and five points this postseason, will be back for Game 2 Sunday night. "He's our best player," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. "So it would be as deflating as if St. Louis lost Turgeon." The Stars were trailing 2-1 when Modano left. Within eight minutes, they were down 4-1. Former Blues star Brett Hull tried leading a comeback, but he was repeatedly snuffed by goalie Roman Turek, who also was facing his former team. Turek, a backup on Dallas' 1999 Stanley Cup championship squad, made 21 saves -- including five on Hull in the third period -- to improve to 4-0-2 against the Stars. "They tried hard, but they didn't have a lot of scoring chances," Turek said. "I feel good. It's a big confidence boost for us." Ed Belfour has failed to win all six games against his former understudy. Dallas defenseman Darryl Sydor contributed to the Blues' first two goals and was on the ice for all four St. Louis goals. Captain Derian Hatcher was with him for three of them. "This is one of the worst games we've played in a long time," Hatcher said. "We just didn't do a whole lot of things right. We were not ready to play. That's the bottom line." Reasoner got rolling early by taking a giveaway by Sydor in the Dallas zone and feeding Pavol Demitra on a 2-on-1 chance. Demitra slid the puck between the pads of Stars goalie Ed Belfour. After Dallas' John MacLean tied it 53 seconds later, Reasoner stole the puck from Sydor against the boards, walked in on Belfour and beat him on the glove slide for his third career playoff goal. All the Stars were caught out of position on Reasoner's second goal, allowing him to again skate at the goal untouched. He faked Belfour to the ice, then flipped the puck over him. Turgeon scored on a 3-on-2 break, using a screen from MacLean to beat Belfour. Brad Lukowich scored Dallas' other goal with 7:38 left. The Stars then failed on their sixth power play and couldn't score in nearly two minutes with an empty net. St. Louis Blues 4, DALLAS STARS 2 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- St. Louis 2 2 0 4 Dallas 1 0 1 2 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, St. Louis, Demitra 2 (Reasoner, Tkachuk), 9:02. 2, Dallas, MacLean 2, 9:55. 3, St. Louis, Reasoner 1 (Hill), 15:08. PENALTIES: MacLean, Dal (elbowing), :54; Pronger, StL, double minor (high-sticking), 2:04; Pronger, StL (hooking), 15:38. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 4, St. Louis, Reasoner 2 (Demitra, Pronger), 3:30. 5, St. Louis, Turgeon 3 (Young, Hecht), 8:46. PENALTIES: Tkachuk, StL (hooking), 12:08; Hatcher, Dal (slashing), 17:45; Matvichuk, Dal (holding), 19:29. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 6, Dallas, Lukowich 1, 12:22. PENALTIES: Tkachuk, StL (high-sticking), 5:28; Hogue, Dal (interference), 6:16; Salvador, StL (interference), 13:50. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- St. Louis 10 9 2 21 Dallas 5 6 12 23 POWER PLAY: St. Louis 0 of 4; Dallas 0 of 6. GOALIES: St. Louis, Turek 5-2 (23 shots-21 saves). Dallas, Belfour 4-3 (21-17). Referees: Rob Shick, Stephen Walkom. Linesmen: Kevin Collins, Dan Schachte. A: 17,001 (17,001).