SCHEDULE
Dallas vs. Buffalo
Game 1: Tonight at Dallas, 5
Game 2: Thursday at Dallas, 5 p.m.
Game 3: Saturday at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Game 4: June 15: at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Game 5: June 17: at Dallas, 5 p.m.*
Game 6: June 19 at Buffalo, 5 p.m.*
Game 7: June 22 at Dallas, 5 p.m.*
*-if necessary
CAPSULE
DALLAS STARS (51-19-12) vs. BUFFALO SABRES (37-28-17)
* Season series: 1-1.
* Top scorers: Dallas--Mike Modano 34-47--81. Buffalo--Miroslav Satan 40-26--66.
* Team goals-against average: Dallas 2.02 (first). Buffalo 2.09 (second).
* Power play: Dallas 18.8% (sixth). Buffalo 13.5% (21st).
* Penalty killing: Dallas 86.5% (sixth). Buffalo 86.2% (seventh).
* Top playoff scorers: Dallas--Joe Nieuwendyk 9-9--18. Buffalo--Jason Woolley 3-10--13.
* Playoff power play: Dallas 10-81 (12.3%). Buffalo 16-69 (23.2%).
* Playoff penalty killing: Dallas 63-69 (91.3%). Buffalo 78-92 (84.8%).
* Playoff goals-against average: Dallas 1.88, Buffalo 2.32.
* How they got here: Dallas defeated Edmonton in four games, St. Louis in six and Colorado in seven. Buffalo defeated Ottawa in four games, Boston in six and Toronto in five.
* Keys: Connoisseurs of forechecking will love this series, but it may not be entirely boring. The Sabres have scored an average of 3.33 goals a game, up from their regular-season average of 2.52, and have enough speed to cause problems for Dallas’ big but slow defense. Their power play has been surprisingly sharp, and Stu Barnes has scored four times with the man advantage. Center Michael Peca, a relentless checker, will probably play against Mike Modano, who is bigger but must prove he can match Peca’s grit. Miroslav Satan, who missed nine games because of an ankle injury, brings marvelous puck-handling skills to a fleet but small forward corps. Then there’s goaltender Dominik Hasek, twice the NHL’s MVP. He won an Olympic gold medal with the Czech Republic at Nagano in 1998 and can join a select group with a gold medal and a Cup title to his credit. But Dallas has the patience and persistence to frustrate him. The Stars are more methodical than creative, but style doesn’t matter now. They play basic defense, rarely turn the puck over in the neutral zone and pounce on opponents’ gaffes. Modano, Joe Nieuwendyk and Guy Carbonneau are excellent on faceoffs and Jamie Langenbrunner, Brett Hull and Jere Lehtinen are scoring threats on the wings. Mike Keane (five goals, six points) has scored some big goals too. Stars in five.
STATISTICS
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DALLAS STARS vs. BUFFALO SABRES 51-19-12--114 Overall Record 37-28-17--91 13-4-3--29 Games 1-20 11-5-4--26 13-3-4--30 Games 21-40 11-6-3--25 13-4-3--29 Games 41-60 6-9-5--17 12-8-2--26 Games 61-82 9-8-5--23 29-8-4--62 Home Record 23-12-6--52 22-11-8--52 Road Record 14-16-11--39 3-1-12--18 Overtime Record 3-3-17--23 236/168 (+68) Goals For/Against 207/175 (+32) 18.8% (74/393) Power Play % 13.5% (49/363) 86.5% (43/319) Pen. Killing % 86.2% (55/399) 53.2% Faceoff % 48.0%
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****
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
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DALLAS STARS BUFFALO SABRES Modano, 34 Goals Satan, 40 Modano, 47 Assists Woolley, 33 Modano, 81 Points Satan, 66 Hull, 11 GW Goals Peca, 8 Hull, 15 Power-play goals Barnes, Satan, 13 Modano, 4 Short-handed Satan, 3 Modano, +29 Plus-minus Shannon, +28 Nieuwendyk, 63.2 Faceoff % Barnes, 51.8 Hatcher, 24.7% Ice time Zhitnik, 25.6% Matvichuk, 153 Blocked shots McKee, 129
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