Belfour Cold and Devils Hot in a 7-3 Victory

Dallas goaltender Ed Belfour blamed his struggles in the Stars’ surprising 7-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on medication he had taken to combat a persistent cold. He knew his fogginess and slow reactions would be a problem, he said, “after six goals.”

But for his teammates, the cold hard truth of Tuesday’s Stanley Cup opener at Continental Airlines Arena was they were beaten by the Devils in every important aspect of the game, from Martin Brodeur’s early clutch saves to the four-goal, 11-point performance by the Devils’ skillful line of Patrik Elias, Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora.

“They outbattled us. They beat us to pucks, which is uncharacteristic to our hockey club,” Dallas winger Kirk Muller said. “They came ready to play and outplayed us.”

Drawn out of the disciplined defensive game that is their trademark, the defending Cup champions gave up as many goals Tuesday as they did in their five-game Western Conference semifinal victory over San Jose. They were unable to slow New Jersey’s speedy forwards and were outmuscled, outhustled and embarrassed.

“It didn’t matter who we played against them. We didn’t have the necessary response,” Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock said.

Belfour kept his mask on long after he had given up six goals on 18 shots and had been pulled in favor of Manny Fernandez, but there was no disguising his chagrin.

“I didn’t feel like I had a lot of energy tonight. I made a lot of bad decisions and I was misjudging the puck,” Belfour said. “Hopefully, I can get over it and feel a little better for the next game.”

A small improvement won’t make a difference if the Devils maintain the level they reached midway through the second period. Their seven goals was the most by one club in the finals since June 6, 1996, when Colorado scored eight, and the combined 10 was the most since the New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks totaled 11 in 1982.

“We played smart hockey, patient hockey, and we came out with a win,” Elias said. “This gives us confidence that we won this game, but we know Thursday will be a totally different game, a lot harder.”

The Devils had built a 2-1 lead by sandwiching goals from Arnott and Ken Daneyko--the veteran defenseman’s first playoff goal since New Jersey’s 1995 Cup run--around a screen shot by Dallas defenseman Darryl Sydor. After an apparent goal by Muller at 7:09 of the second period was disallowed because referees Don Koharski and Bill McCreary lost sight of the puck, the Stars created a dangerous chance when Mike Modano dodged Devil defenseman Brian Rafalski and took a shot from close range that Brodeur snared with his glove; Brett Hull pursued the rebound, only to lodge the puck in Brodeur’s glove again.

“Huge,” Devil Coach Larry Robinson said of the saves.

And even bigger 30 seconds later, when Sykora took a deft backhand pass from Elias and scored the first of five consecutive New Jersey goals.

Scott Stevens, Sergei Brylin and Sykora victimized Belfour late in the second period and into the third before Arnott finished New Jersey’s scoring with a re-direction during a power play at 5:12 of the third. “You see that a lot in hockey, a few big saves and the other team comes down and answers back,” Stevens said.

The Stars scored twice in 12 seconds to gain some measure of self-respect and tie a finals record for the fastest two goals, but the Devils kept them at a comfortable distance. The Devils also kept their emotions under check.

“We’re not going to get a false sense of success,” said Daneyko, the only Devil to have played in all 126 playoff games in the team’s history.

The Stars lost the opener of the West final against Colorado and won in seven, so adversity isn’t something new for them. They’re 3-5 on the road in the playoffs. “We will regroup and just look at this as one game,” said Belfour, who is likely to skip the decongestants Thursday. “It’s a wake-up call for all of us. We have to play a lot better defensively and I have to come up with the saves.”

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THE SERIES

Stanley Cup Finals

NEW JERSEY vs. DALLAS

New Jersey leads best-of-seven series, 1-0

* GAME 1: New Jersey 7, Dallas 3

* GAME 2: Thursday at New Jersey, 5 p.m. ESPN

* GAME 3: Saturday at Dallas, 5 p.m. ABC

* GAME 4: Monday at Dallas, 5 p.m. ABC

* GAME 5: June 8 at New Jersey, 5 p.m. ABC*

* GAME 6: June 10 at Dallas, 5 p.m. ABC*

* GAME 7: June 12 at New Jersey, 5 p.m. ABC*

* if necessary; times are Pacific