Belfour Saves the Stars Again

Being outshot 39-15 in a must-win game on the road isn’t the usual formula for success. But thanks to Ed Belfour, the Dallas Stars regained home-ice advantage.

Belfour was brilliant in goal, recording 38 saves, to lead the Stars to a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.

Brett Hull had two goals and an assist as the Stars squared the best-of-seven Western Conference finals at 2-2. Game 5 is Tuesday night at Dallas.

Mike Modano had three assists for Dallas, which scored four times on its first 11 shots.

“We’re sitting here at 2-2 with three games left, two at home,” Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “Our team feels pretty good about itself right now.

“We got the win in this building that we badly needed. Colorado plays perfect in this building. We play really well in our building too. The game changes dramatically when it goes into our building now.”

Hitchcock, who switched his lines in an effort to inject life into a squad that was shut out twice in the first three games of the series, said Hull’s second goal was critical.

“They scored their goal after an unfortunate turnover [to make it 2-1], and we were on our heels,” Hitchcock said. “That goal by Hull was huge for us.”

But Hitchcock reserved most of his praise for Belfour.

“Eddie was terrific,” Hitchcock said. “He’s been terrific the whole series. He’s played four great hockey games.”

Belfour said he “felt real strong the whole game and I was seeing the puck real well. All I had to do was make the first save. Guys took care of the rebounds.”

Belfour, who had 38 saves in two straight games, admitted, “They were definitely two strong games for me.”

Asked about the shot imbalance, Belfour said, “I don’t pay attention to the board. I try and stay focused on making the next save.”

The Stars focused on not being careless and not how many pucks they sent toward Patrick Roy.

“We weren’t concerned about the number of shots,” Hull said. “We concentrated on not making mistakes, and making the most of the shots when we got them.”

Roy stopped 11 shots for Colorado, which lost for the first time at home in the playoffs after seven wins.

Colorado defenseman Adam Foote, who missed Game 3 because of an eye injury, returned to the lineup, as did Dallas forward Brenden Morrow, who broke his right ankle just eight days earlier in Game 1.

NHL Notes

Finland’s Alpo Suhonen will be hired as the Chicago Blackhawks’ coach, a move that will make him the NHL’s first European-born head coach. A source close to the team confirmed Sunday that the Blackhawks had chosen Suhonen. The team has called a news conference for today. With the hiring, the Blackhawks will beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the race for the first European-born head coach. Czech Ivan Hlinka is taking over the Penguins from Herb Brooks, but the team has yet to make it official. Suhonen, 51, was an assistant in Toronto and has worked previously with Blackhawk director of hockey operations Mike Smith with the Maple Leafs and in Winnipeg. Suhonen is no stranger to Chicago, having coached the International Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves in 1997. Suhonen will replace the fired Lorne Molleken.

The condition of cancer-stricken hockey great Maurice Richard has improved. “He is conscious, he is answering questions coherently. He ate very well this morning,” Dr. Andre Robidoux said at the Hotel Dieu hospital in Montreal. On Saturday, the prognosis seemed far bleaker. The 78-year-old Richard was semi-comatose and fighting for his life, with the cancer already in his abdomen having spread elsewhere. . . . Bruce Saville, a part owner of the Edmonton Oilers, has quit the NHL team’s board of directors. Saville, angry over an ownership rift that led to the resignation Friday of president-general manager Glen Sather, said he’s hoping for a mutiny at the board’s annual meeting next week. “I’m hoping there’s actually a new election of directors next week and I’m hoping there’ll be some fresh faces,” Saville said.