Stars Will Get Some Help From Guerin

Dallas winger Bill Guerin, idled since he suffered a thigh injury Feb. 27 that required emergency surgery to restore blood flow to his leg, is expected to return to the Stars’ lineup today. All that could prevent him, Coach Dave Tippett said, is if Guerin feels soreness from the brisk workout the Stars went through Sunday at the Arrowhead Pond.

If Guerin says he’s ready after today’s morning skate, “I think we’d have to find room,” Tippett deadpanned.

Guerin, who joined the Stars last summer as a free agent, had 25 goals, 50 points and 113 penalty minutes in 64 games before the injury. He has been working out strenuously for the last week or so and said Sunday he feels ready.

“It’s time,” said the 6-foot-2, 210-pound right wing, who is considered one of the NHL’s premier power forwards. “There’s nothing holding me back.”

He acknowledged he’s likely to be overzealous when he finally gets back onto the ice, but he’ll gladly harness his emotions, if need be. “It’s been a long, hard road. I’m glad to be playing again,” he said. “I’m going to have to control some jitters. But they haven’t changed the way the game is played.”

His teammates are eager to have him back. “His presence, just his voice in the room and on the bench, is going to help us tremendously,” Jason Arnott said. “To get a star player like that back, no question, it will help.”

Tippett wouldn’t say which line Guerin will play on, but said he won’t coddle Guerin. “We expect Bill Guerin to be Bill Guerin,” Tippett said. “All along it’s been a comfort level in his mind of when he feels he can contribute and help the team win. It’s not certain. It’s getting awfully close.”

*

After overcoming hostile, pro-Oiler crowds in Edmonton, the Stars say they’re not afraid of what they might face tonight from Duck fans at the Pond.

“Having been in Edmonton will help,” goalie Marty Turco said. “Coming here with our backs against the wall, we won’t need any extra motivation. I look forward to the challenge not only of having to win but to win at the Pond.”

*

Dallas center Mike Modano, upset after the Game 2 loss, accused the Mighty Ducks of “riding that fine line of clutching and grabbing” and said “our arms look like we’re heroin addicts from the slashes and hooks.”

Duck hierarchy said that was all junk.

“That’s gamesmanship,” Duck General Manager Bryan Murray said. “If you look at the two teams, how we played against Detroit and how they played against Edmonton, you can see the difference in the two teams.”

Murray pointed out that the Ducks had the third fewest penalties in the NHL this season. Dallas was 14th.

“They tried to run at us like crazy and we held our ground,” Duck Coach Mike Babcock said. “That’s great.”

As for Modano’s comments, Babcock said: “Obviously, everybody has a different perspective.... The game played out there [on the ice]. It’s just lobbying. You don’t need me to say any more than that.”

*

The Ducks won 24 one-goal games in the regular season, tying them with New Jersey for the NHL lead. They have won six more in the playoffs, four against Detroit, the Western Conference’s second-seeded team, and two against the top-seeded Stars.

Since the NHL went to a conference-based, 16-team playoff format in 1993-94, no team has beaten the No. 1- and No. 2-seeded teams in the same season.

The Ducks have won six consecutive playoff games, one shy of the NHL record set by the New York Rangers in 1994.

*

The Stars have been down 2-0 in a playoff series 11 times and have lost the last 10. They rallied from a 2-0 deficit against the Kings in 1968, when they were the Minnesota North Stars.

Previously, 251 teams have fallen behind 2-0 in a NHL playoff series. Only 34 have came back to win.