Five for Fighting

Overcoming 3-0

I know it hasn't been done very often, but I wasn't sure exactly how many times an NHL team has come back from a 3-0 deficit. The answer? Twice. And it's been a while since it happened:

The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs did it in the Cup finals, beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 to win, at the time, their fourth Stanley Cup.
The 1975 New York Islanders did it in the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Isles got down 3-0 in the ensuing round against the Philadelphia Flyers, too, and once again forced a Game 7. They lost that one, however.

Defining moments

Just flipping through the channels here and I saw a show called Defining Moments is coming up on the NHL Network at 1 p.m. What's showing? The 1999 Western Conference Finals of the Dallas Stars.

Hmm... wonder if Stars management arranged that and will have the boys watching :)

It's hump day

Hey kids,

Pretty quick (and optional) practice this morning, for obvious reason. The Stars need to stay fresh and focused on the chance they have to sweep tonight. Let's face it: Nobody wants to get on that airplane again, deal with the two-hour time change again, or give the Sharks another chance.

Anyway, Zubov's fine again. Now with Stu Barnes, there may be a question mark. Barnes said he was fine when I talked to him post-game, and Tippett said they'd talk to him this morning to see how he's doing. There may be someone in for him if there's any doubt. I'm not sure he or Jonathan Cheechoo got the worst of their collision. Both looked dazed afterward.

It'd be great if the Stars finished this off tonight. Get some time, get some rest before the next round. Regardless, just finish it ASAP. Don't want to give a team like the Sharks any life.

Game 3 slide show

Click here for a slide show of images from Game 3 by Star-Telegram staff photographers Ralph Lauer and Sharon Steinman.

Unbelievable

OK, this was a fun one. Even if the Stars would've lost, it was a great game. Plenty of chances, two great performances by the goaltenders, more than enough hits, etc. Still, the Stars are in an incredible position right now. They have a chance to end this at home tomorrow. Now the only thing I wonder about is how much energy there's going to be on the second half of this back to back. Then again, the Stars and Ducks' back-to-back in two different places in round one produced a great Game 5 in Anaheim.

So here's the deal: The Stars have to come out roaring. That's all there is to it. If they want to sweep, they have to get to the Sharks as quickly as possible. Regardless, they're in a great position. A couple of topics:
** Brenden Morrow was fantastic tonight. He had 11 hits. Eleven. I didn't believe it myself until I saw the scoresheet. He was everywhere, and had a chance or two to score to boot. Great stuff from the captain.
**Marty Turco made some quality stops. No, he didn't face a ton. But what he did face he stopped. That's got to be morale-breaking for the Sharks, who are probably wondering what they have to do to beat him.
**Brad Richards doesn't need to score a darn thing to be effective. He was out there creating, grabbing turnovers, everything. Opponents have to pay attention to him at all times.
**Sergei Zubov defies explanation. He really does. He's out three months, yet the final scoresheet has him for nearly 26 minutes of ice time (that could be off, however; we had a clock malfunction here for a bit).
OK, folks, I'm calling it a night. I've got to be back here in the a.m. See you tomorrow night.

Postgame quotables, losing coach version

San Jose coach Ron Wilson was not happy after his team lost 2-1 in overtime to the Stars. I guess that's understandable, considering his team is now down 3-0 in the series and facing elimination tomorrow night. But don't ask him about how hard it is for a team to keep alive in this position. Here's what the grumpy coach had to say after the game:

... I thought for the first two periods, we played a perfect road game. We had some good opportunities, and snuffed theirs out. We took a bad penalty at the end of the second period and then we put a gun to our head  with that 5-on-3 opportunity and they converted. They got excited  and we got back on our heels. We were running around a little bit and didn't show much poise until late in the third period.

... We had couple of good opportunities in the overtime, especially the one by Milan [Michalek] but we didn't get it done tonight.

On Zubov's goal: Well, when you go down 5-on-3 what the heck are you going to do? Even that shot, it was a ricochet that swept through Nabakov's legs. It was a tough break.

On the Marleau short-handed goal: That was a great play. Patty made a great play. Zubov made a blind ply and then Patty jumped all over it and buried it. That was a great play because he was tired and still found a way to score.

-- Keeli Garza

Postgame quotables, Dave Tippett version

What Stars head coach Dave Tippett had to say following his team's 2-1 overtime win against the Sharks:

How's it feel to be 3-0? Better than 2-0 ... I thought that probably could have been the best game of the series we've played, actually. I thought we were around the play a lot more. The first couple of games, we were really opportunistic and Turco made a lot of saves. But this game, I felt like we just pushed and that was the best game of the series. I think if you just recognize the opponent, we're going to need to be better tomorrow and see how it goes.

Talk about the playoff that Norstrom has had: Both our old timers are coming up with big goals for us. He's just a warrior. He's a guy that leads by example and lays everything on the line every night.  When he gets some points because he scores a goal, he gets recognized more. He's one of those guys you recognize even when he doesn't score. He's putting it on the line every night. The guy wants to win and he's willing to do whatever it takes to win. He's a great example of that.

Was it the plan to play Zubov that many minutes? It was kind of how the game went. We gotta see where he's at. He kept wanting more. When he's wanting more, you've gotta give him more.

On Turco's performance: That's a game you need your goaltender to play well. We made a mistake to give them an early lead, and then we were lucky enough to get a 5-on-3 goal. It's a tight game, a tough game for goaltenders to play and we got a break in the end. Just like every shift, you've gotta make sure you're doing the little things right, a goaltender has to make sure he's doing the little things right because there's nobody behind him to clean that up.

On Morrow's performance: It's amazing how hard he plays and how well he plays. He has such purpose in every shift. The thing I think you can say about him is that we know he's around the action and they know he's around the action.

On what it takes to win a series like this: Your work ethic, your second and third effort, your execution, and your bounces that you get all have to be there to win games.

On being successful in the playoffs: We found ways to win. We were opportunistic out there. I thought this was our best game and we really pushed the play. I also that this was Nabokov's best game.

-- Keeli Garza

Postgame quotables, winning team version

What some of the Stars had to say after their 2-1 overtime win over the Sharks, to take a 3-0 series lead:

Mattias Norstrom: It's one of those situations that we had the pick for a while and I was just trying to get the puck to the net as soon as I could. Marty made a great save for us in overtime and kept us in it. I thought tonight was our best game of the series and tomorrow, we want to close this series out.

Mike Modano: It's about sticking to our gameplan and capitalizing on chances. We got a big 5-on-3 goal and it was just a tight game. Game 3 is pivotal and gives us a lot of momentum and excitement. We want to get right back at them and we'll see what happens tomorrow. There's a lot of adrenaline right now and elimination games in Dallas are always revved up. Their backs are against the wal and we'll need to match their intensity.

Brenden Morrow: We'll take it. We played some real good hockey and we're in a real good position right now. We are finding ways to win hockey games and have gained some steam here. It's a battle, they are good defensively and they do a good job clogging up lanes. We have emphasized the starts and we'd like to bring some momentum from the opening faceoff tomorrow night. Hopefully, our will prevails tomorrow night.

Marty Turco: We could care less how [Norstrom's goal] went it. That's playoff hockey and when games are that tight, you feel very fortunate to score in overtime. It's all about moving ahead and getting that fourth win. It was great to see it go in, though. We are going to need to try and limit them tomorrow like we did tonight. You have to continue to make your own breaks and that's our mindset right now.

-- Keeli Garza

Norstrom, Ott, etc.

Yes, Mattias Norstrom had the game-winner for the Stars 4:37 into overtime.

He now has two career playoff goals, both this season.

The Stars announced tonight that center Steve Ott has signed a two-year contract. The deal is worth $2.85 million - $1.35 million in ’08-09 and $1.5 million in ’09-10. Ott’s contract was to expire on June 30, 2008.

Ott, 25, set a career high in goals (11) this season and tied his career-high of 22 points.

Good timing on the announcement, since he really annoys the Sharks.

Stars win game 3 in OT

Stars #4 Mattias Norstrom celebrates his game winning goal in the overtime with #26 Jere Lehtinen and #5 Matt Niskanen during the Dallas Stars vs San Jose Sharks Western Conference Semifinals Playoff Hockey Game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on April 29, 2008.