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Stars move on with marathon win

STEPHEN HAWKINS

Associated Press

Latest comment posted at 3:58 PM EDT 05/05/08

Morrow scores 9:03 into the fourth overtime as Dallas eliminates San Jose with a 2-1 win in the eighth longest game in NHL history ...Read the full article

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  1. Bill Weston from Grand Rapids, MI, United States writes: Finally, a playoff year where the Red Wings wont have to travel across three time zones to play on the dreaded west coast! This promises to be a very interesting series.

    Wings in 6.
  2. Mowho33 Who from Canada writes: omg.i 'm glad dallas took it and that morrow scored. i couldn't manage to stay up myself. i was crashing after the 1st ot and went to z-land.
  3. D W from Switzerland writes: ....""Nabokov's incredible glove save 1:31 into the first overtime kept the game going and prevented a series winner by Brad Richards."" .....
    wish it had; where are all those Brad Richards trade-dealine bashers now ???
  4. Sean O'Reilly from Canada writes: Did not find this series entertaining at all.

    Both teams have quite a few good players, but their style does not breed excitement.
  5. Wilf Kruggel from Canada writes: Sean O'Reilly, you must have been watching a different game than the one I watched as I found that game highly entertaining. I did not have a preference as to who won as I enjoy good hockey. I think the boys slept well last night, Wilf
  6. Alain Chicoine from Halifax, Canada writes: All Hail Brenden Morrow! This guy is a machine. He's got it all, including the Stars on his back.

    I only saw the first period and it was more entertaining than the entire Pens-Rangers game earlier in the day.

    Round 3 will be a beauty.
  7. Tom Sawyer from Canada writes: Here we go Dallas.....go chew up those Euro Wings. Dallas in 6. Watch for Dallas banging to knock out some of the older Red Wings. This is going to be about grit and heart.
  8. Alistair McLaughlin from Canada writes: 7 periods. What a joke. Something has to be done to get more offense into the game. Back in the 80s, you'd NEVER see a game go 7 periods. (The exception was game 7 between Washington and NYI in 1987, which also took 4 OT periods.) Granted, it's been less common since the lockout, but it still shouldn't happen. And shootouts ARE NOT the answer. Offense needs to be put back into the game. Somehow.
  9. Matt O from Canada writes: Alistair, the game was actually quite exciting. What's more vexing than the score is the fact that the game was settled on a power play.

    The refs called a so-so one against Dallas in the previous period, and were itching to make an even-up call against the Sharks. The fact that that was what decided the series makes it feel like a rip-off, and I feel like I wasted my time staying up.

    When hockey was better, I don't remember inconsistent refereeing being such a factor. Maybe that's because with higher scores, each individual goal matters less. I don't know. But the officiating is broken in the sport, and has been for years, and has decided far too many games in this playoff year.
  10. Howard Young from Canada writes: I'm living in the EST zone, only managed to stay up for 2 extra periods. Am I right that the deciding goal after 7 periods was on a power play? It better have been a good penalty, otherwise, the zebras must have been getting sleepy and wanted to go home.
  11. Nicolas Perrot from Ottawa, Canada writes: Can't understand posters who wrote game was boring. Literally stayed up until the end, like the dallas fans in the stands. One of the best games of the playoffs imo. Both goalies were spectacular. I find the stars are slacking a bit compared to their games against the ducks. They probably rely too much on Turco. Best moment of the game, in ot when the ref shook his head after a san jose disallowed goal. He just wanted to go home.

    As for the next series I'm rooting for Dallas, but Detroit deserves it just as much.
  12. Scot Loucks from Pickering, Canada writes: Alistair... I certainly didn't find the game boring. The goaltenders were standing on their heads. Did you see the number of shots?

    As for the winning goal... I agree Matt O. The first penalty (against Dallas, OT) was called because it interfered with a scoring chance.... they had to call it.

    No such luck on the one against Campbell. I felt ripped off as well.

    Cheers
  13. Miguel Sanchez from Wakaw, Canada writes: Was the game boring? Absolutely not. But Sean is right: it doesn't make up for a dreadfully boring series that might single-handedly pull the NHL back into the 1990s Stone Age of defensive snoozery. And Tom Sawyer? Euro-Wings? Come on, look in the mirror: Dallas vs. Detroit will be more like Finland vs. Sweden.
  14. steve allan from Canada writes: I hope Carey 'The Sieve' Price was watching, that way he'll have an idea what real goaltending is all about.

    I tip my hat to both teams, particularly the goalies who made incredible saves in overtime.
  15. Matt O from Canada writes: Scot, you're right, a case could be made for the first penalty, but I still cringed when they called it because you knew that the even-up call would be a bad one...which it was.

    Perhaps the two-referee system is to blame...one of the many changes fans and the media were clamouring for in order to "improve" the game. What else can be add to that list? Getting rid of the red line, re-instating tag-up offisides (after abandoning it ten years earlier, again to "improve" the game), limiting the space where goalies can handle the puck, barring line changes on an offside, changing the shape of the crease into something an expert in geomgetry couldn't identify, etc., etc.

    Yet scoring still remains low. When will people realize it's the way hockey is played these days that is the problem. This isn't a car, you can't just go under the hood and make a few repairs.
  16. Jasper the Black Lab from Vancouver and Elsewhere, Canada writes: Yes, the goalie pads are too big, but we don't need any extra dumbing-down to make hockey more "entertaining" for watchers with attention-span challenges.

    The Stars might be a bit tired, but should take the Wings in 6.
  17. Devil Bud from T.O., Canada writes: Best game of the playoffs...by a mile. It is really too bad that it is over, because I would have enjoyed seeing a game 7 on this one. Turco and Nabokov were unreal. It is too bad that the refs. found the need to attempt to end it. There is calling a penalty when a guy is in an obvious scoring position, and calling a penalty when a guy is in the corner. Quad. overtime, and calling that is beyond reasonable. I feel for Roenick, as that may have been his last hoorah. Tough way to go out, but he played great. Here's to hoping he gives it another year.
  18. D K from Canada writes: "Alistair McLaughlin from Canada writes: 7 periods. What a joke. Something has to be done to get more offense into the game. Back in the 80s, you'd NEVER see a game go 7 periods..) Granted, it's been less common since the lockout, but it still shouldn't happen"

    Based on what, your all important opinion? An exciting game. Maybe next year there will be an A.M. rule: Thou decrees that no game can go 7 periods lest Allistair gets cranky"
  19. paddy o'reilly from Canada writes: One of the best games of all time. Too bad about the penalty call. The first one was marginal, the second one sucked.

    Boring? Great offense, defense, back check, fore check, goal tending between two evenly matched talented teams. . . complete hockey. . . what else could you possibly want?
  20. Scot Loucks from Pickering, Canada writes: Tom Sawyer; Euro Wings?

    I believe if you check (nhlnumbers.com) both Dallas and Detroit are dressing about 11 Canadians each.

    Cheers
  21. Joe Calgarian from Canada writes: Wow, another American team hoisting the cup. Yawn. I tuned out a long time ago. CBC really should change their show's name to Hockey Night in America. When's the CFL start?
  22. Matt O from Canada writes: Joe Calgarian: funny, it's precisely when the CFL starts that I start to Yawn.
  23. Gordon Howe from HockeyTown, United States writes: So now the Wings are going to face another hot goalie. Just like Dan Ellis, and Josie Theodore. We saw the results. Now we see Turco. Saw a couple of softies against him from the Sharks. I don't think the Stars have faced a puck control team with as much speed as the Wings. I don't think the Stars have faced a team with as good a forechecking unit as the Wings. The Stars MAY have faced harder checking teams, but they better keep their heads up for Kronwall. Love those center ice hits. The Preds and the Avs were supposed to be pounding the Wings. I didn't see that work. Tom Sawyer sounds like a proud canadian clone. Well Tom, as I said above the Preds tried, the Avs tried. We shall see. All I've seen is the Wings starting to get better. They were a little rusty against the Preds, but were almost in full flight against the Avs.
  24. Michael Sharp from Victorious, Canada writes:

    Man.

    What a game.

    It would surprise me if Dallas doesn't win the cup.
    That's by far and away the best hockey I've seen in years.
  25. Scot Loucks from Pickering, Canada writes: Gordon Howe;

    If the Stars play the same way against the Wings I expect them to get smoked. They play a chip it out game.... which means just giving the puck back to the Wings .... who will circle and attack again.

    Wings / Flyers in the final

    Cheers
  26. J R Ewing from Dallas, Texas, United States writes: Once again, and for the 15th consecutive year, no Canadian team will win the Stanley Cup. I know, I know - Canadians are making the difference with all teams. Crosby, Morrow etc. This should be treated as a major embarrassment. Yes, a Canadian team has made the finals for the past three years, but really folks, this should not rest lightly on Canadian shoulders. American teams have not lost 15 straight Ryder Cups. American teams have not lost 15 straight America's Cups. Personally, I don't really care for hockey. I'm very happy the home team is doing well. GO STARS!! However, if hockey is the national game of my native country, would some Canadian team please get the best scouting money can buy and the best salary-capologists money can buy, and stitch a winner together? We are now approaching a generation of Canadians who have not had a chance to go to a victory parade for their home team, when it used to be their almost-exclusive dominion.
  27. Michael Sharp from Victorious, Canada writes:

    Scot?

    Stars/Penguins in the final.

    Stars in 5.

    Nothing beats grit.
  28. Matt O from Canada writes: Scot, Sharp, I have to disagree with both of you. I say Wings/Pens in the finals, with Detroit looking like the frontrunner in that contest.

    J R Ewing, you make some good points, but golf and yachting aren't exactly America's national pastimes, are they? One major reason American teams do better is that they are actually run competently, unlike in the 70s.

    Back then, the Canadiens essentially took advantage of the inept ownership and management of all the new clubs back then to score early draft picks and build up one of the best clubs the sport has ever seen. No way that would happen these days, as most new owners are smart enough to hire competent people. It's actually the old guard of NHL clubs...the Rangers, the Bruins, and especially the Blackhawks, that struggle in the new league.
  29. Trilly B from Canada writes: What a game. Both goalies were awesome in the OT. Half a day worth of hockey is aaaaaallright!

    JR, the America's Cup did not originate in the US, nor was the trophy named for the country. But your point is taken :)

    Here's to no four or five game series in the second round.
  30. W R from Stratford, PE, Canada writes: J R Ewing: There are no American teams in the NHL and no Canadian teams either. There are only teams which have players that for a short period of time are situated in a particular city. Their loyalities are with the almighty buck not with a country. The NHL today should be seen as a glorified house league. The teams are partners in a corporate business venture whose goal is to entertain and make money. Patriotic gestures like the playing of the countries' national anthems are anachronisms left over from an earlier time. Today if anything the games are competitions between city-states not countries.

  31. Tom h from Edmonton, Canada writes: Great game, and 2 of the best goaltending performances I've ever seen. No problems with the power-play winner, either. Although the penalty didn't directly stop a scoring chance like the Stars' penalty did in the 3rd OT, Campbell tripped the guy when the Stars had the Sharks bottled up in their own end for an extended period of time, and the trip would've allowed SJ to get the puck out to avoid probably a few more shots on net. So yeah, it wasn't quite as bad as the Stars' penalty, but it wasn't a stretch to see why it was called, either.

    P.S. Why have I not heard of Brenden Morrow before this year? The guy's incredible.
  32. Dave The Rave from Ottawa, Canada writes: Making predictions in this year's playoffs has proved to be an exercise in absurdity. Based on watching every series, the games have proven, for the most part, to be much closer than in past years. Tough to bet on any of the Final Four. As for all this 'grit' stuff...'grit' doesn't win, putting the puck in the net while keeping it out does. The last three Stanley Cup winners were not 'gritty'. They had excellent coaches, dangerous scorers, tight defense and great goaltending. As for the Stanley Cup 'returning to Canada', why get your knickers in a twist over it? Since 1925, the National Hockey League has been formed from teams all over North America, and remains the only professional league in any sport on this continent to have clubs in both countries, while fielding the best in the entire world.
  33. Ryan M from Ottawa, Canada writes: Dave the Rave - have to disagree. Last year, the Ducks' grit helped them dismantle the Sens. Their checking line shut down Ottawa pretty effectively. Yes, they had the rest of the components that you listed (goaltending, scoring, coaching), but their team toughness was really the deciding factor in that series.

    I think that MLB and the NBA might disagree with your final sentence...
  34. Allan Hewitson from Kitimat, B.C., Canada writes: That was a hockey game! I had NO favorites in this one -maybe a bit of a lean to Dallas for the all out effort of Morrow, Modano and Turco...but I pay homage to the work of all the toilers in the corners who made this a memorable game. Also to stoic Nabokov and hard charging Roenick, who rented some of his old energy for this series. Nothing wrong with the result -- everyone knew the refs would give Dallas a pp as a make up...and that late in the game they's find a way to make it count. I have to comment on the refereeing, because I've hated it all playoffs long. But this was good, even and understandable and they kept talking to the players. No goalmouth scrums like EVERY time in Philly and Montreal. Such a contrast to the earlier series of travesties in Pittsburgh and even Washington...especially the Drury cut, with no call. With four black and white's on the ice, this kind of thing (16 stitches) CANNOT be missed by all. No hesitation when Drury clipped Malone -- four minutes. Four minutes to Rangers at the start oif the third could have made a huge difference -- and to follow that failure with three Pen's power players, demonstrated the ludicrousness of the officiating. VERY BAD...! But the game I watched to finish the Dallas-Sharks series made up for many of the previous horror shows in the east. Best game in the last three years. Worth it all was the expression on the ref's face, close up, as he shook his head "no" to a Sharks push-in after the whistle in the third OT. No arguments -- just straight to the face-off circle. Another great moment...!
  35. Matt O from Canada writes: Tom h, you make some good points regarding the penalty. To tell you the truth, I thought the whole way that the Stars would take the OT. The Sharks were pressing most of the time, but were getting maybe 1-2 shots per overtime period. All that work for so little, and they looked exhausted.

    Dallas looked much fresher heading into OT number 4, and I was thinking it was just a matter of time before they scored. In terms of good chances, I think they outdid the Sharks through the entire overtime, even though it looked like San Jose was dominating for long stretches.

    Cheers.
  36. Matt O from Canada writes: Oh yeah, I mean 1-2 "good" shots per overtime period, re:the Sharks, in my previous post.
  37. Jimmy Stewart from Toronto, Canada writes: JR Ewing your comparison to the Ryder Cup is absurd. The Ryder is about a national all-star team going against a supra-national all-star team and this is very different than the city-based NHL. Personally, I have ZERO loyalty to other 'Canadian' teams besides the one I (unfortunately) support . This post-season I've been cheering for the Pens because I like their brand of hockey. Also, a Stanley Cup parade only ever happened in two Canadian cities prior to 1967 and has since only happened in 2 additional ones. It's never been an 'almost-exclusive dominion' for any Canadian city.
  38. wayne powers from saskatoon, writes: I'm sick and tired of people (usually not from Canada) telling us how to improve hockey. It's funny how a baseball game lasting the same amount of time and with a similar score would be touted by all the American press as a classic. Or to hear some Brit or other european rave on about a 0-0 soccer game being won by penalty kicks.
    Leave our sports alone, some TO radio guy (American) was just yamering on about the safety point and the no free catch rules in the CFL and how stupid they are. Well it's not the NFL buddy. And he also complained about 4 ot periods as stupid. Leave the shoot out for kids 3 on 3 hockey not regular hockey, OT is exciting.
  39. Ryan M from Ottawa, Canada writes: wayne powers - please watch http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107050/
  40. wayne powers from saskatoon, writes: Hey have you been talking to my wife? That's what she calls me.
  41. Dave The Rave from Ottawa, Canada writes: The NHL is unique in its mix of nationalities, and no other league, not MLB, nor the NBA, has the NHL's diversity. As for 'grit', the point is that balance is needed in the new NHL to go all the way. Teams are so closely matched now, and any team can beat any other team on any given night, that skill, strategy and coaching--and the ability to execute that strategy--supersede 'grit', which is an intangible. Intangibles are important, sure, but only when the skill level and execution are there. No one could accuse Colorado of not being 'gritty', but with their stars ill or injured, they had no chance against Detroit. The Predators certainly had grit, but they just didn't have the skill. Looking ahead to Dallas vs Detroit, it seems we have two extremely well matched clubs. Sergei Zubov's return was essential for the Stars. Brendan Morrow's play has been everything a captain's should be. However, Dallas' tendency to give away the puck as shown especially last night and in the games they lost to the Sharks, can be exploited by a team as expert in puck control as Detroit. Difficult to find weaknesses on the Wings. This team can beat you up as easily as they can dazzle you. Osgood is positively transformed; he is not the vacillating netminder of previous years. Ozzy looks to be in complete control of his game. And the backup, well, only one of the best ever.

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