From Stars to Shark Bait

Wasn't it just last week that the Stars had a commanding 3-0 lead over these pesky Sharks?
Last night, the Stars scored the first 2 goals and it looked like we were heading to Detroit. Then came 2 unanswered goals and a goal by Joe Pavelski just 65 seconds in overtime to put San Jose right back in the fight. It was the first shot by either team in the extra period. Now the Stars have lost all confidence and only lead 3-2 approaching the HUGE Game 6 here in Dallas tomorrow night.

"We said, 'Let's go out and throw out everything we have in the third period,'" Roenick said. "'Let's just empty the tanks and put out every effort we possibly have. If we do that, we'll have a shot." The Shark tank has been emptied, and some Stars are getting bitten.

All these critics have been saying how Modano "owns those Sharks." Do they realize that presently Modano has the worst +/- on the team at -4? Has Dave Tippett told rusty Zubov that he needs to watch the turnovers? Because of Zubov's shakiness on the power play, the Sharks had 2 shorthanded goals in 2 nights. One of those ended up being the game-winner.

Just yesterday DallasDedicated discussed how dominant Marty has been behind the net. Last night some very questionable goals got by him. Looking at the overtime goal, Turco had no screens in front of him. It was just Pavelski skating to Turco's left and getting the unassisted backhand wrister over Turco's shoulder.

It took 2 goals in a row to be waved off by the refs for the Sharks to continue battling. Morrow had two apparent goals that were waved off by the officials, one for kicking the puck into the net and another for batting it with his hand.

"Our team battles through adversity, but those were two critical points of the game," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "I still haven't seen a distinct kicking motion, but I suppose somebody else did. The other one, I agree with the call ... but if Brenden Morrow isn't cross-checked in the back, he would have put the puck down and in the back of the net. Those are two critical plays in the game, and you have to find a way to overcome that."

Game 6 should look a lot different. In every single game this series, the team to score first has lost. Dallas has the reputation of playing not to lose instead of continuing to pound. The 3rd period was very good to the Stars in the first round against Anaheim because they got out of the "playing not to lose" mentality. They will have to go back to that mindset to finish off the Sharks at home, before this series gets really scary.

Here's a preview of Game 6, the puck drops at 8pm tomorrow night.



In other news....
The Rangers did something last night they have not done all season....they went on a 3 game winning streak! While it may be a little premature to get excited, Texas is still a long way out from first in the division, these divisional games are very important and a great way to catch up. The Rangers called up minor-leagur A.J. Murray (who?) to face the A's tonight. First pitch is at 9:05. Here is the gameday preview of that.

DallasDedicated is loving us some Atlanta Hawks basketball. They pulled off the Game 6 upset over the Celtics last night to force a Game 7 in Boston. If Atlanta completes the upset, all of a sudden the Maverick's first round upset by the Warriors is forgotten....right? RIGHT?! -ND