SJS vs DAL

DALLAS - On the cover of the Dallas Stars media guide, Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen amd Sergei Zubov prowl in the background in black and white, while Brenden Morrow and Marty Turco stand defiantly in color in front of the aging veterans.

The statement is clear - this version of the Stars belongs to Morrow and Turco.

The captain and the goalie have taken over and become the core of the team. While Modano, Lehtinen and Zubov are the sole remaining components of the 1999 Stanley Cup championship team, they are taking on different roles this time around.

Mike Ribeiro and Brad Richards are the go-to scoring guys, they are not yet leaders for the Stars. While there is a new philosophy that values youth and energy, those players need to be led.

No, when it comes to standing defiantly and giving an identity to the team, Morrow and Turco are it.

And that was never more clear than Sunday night - and Monday morning - when Turco came up with a career high 61 saves and Morrow scored his third overtime playoff winner in the last two seasons to lead Dallas to a 2-1 victory at the 59:03 mark of overtime.

It was the eighth longest game in NHL history. It was the third longest game in Stars franchise history. Dallas lost both of the two longer games, because nobody could score a goal. Turco was great in net in both (2003 against Anaheim, 80:48, and 2007 against Vancouver, 78:06), but Dallas simply couldn’t break the other goalie. Turco claimed at the time "`I need a hero,’’ and his Morrow has been there ever since.

"Tonight was as fitting as anything I’ve ever seen in sports that Brenden got that winning goal,’’ Stars coach Dave Tippett said of Morrow, who had two goals disallowed in Game 5.

"He took his team on his back.’’

Morrow finished with 19 hits in the game, including a bone-jarring check on Milan Michalek that sent him from the game. The Sharks leading scorer in the series (four goals in six games) did not return. Morrow scored his seventh goal of the playoffs.

``We know how good a hockey team we are,’’ Morrow said ``I think we learned a lot about ourselves, gained valuable experience. There’s a lot of guys on board…my job is pretty easy right now. There’s not one guy in here who isn’t competing.’’

And as for Turco, Morrow said he’s the real MVP of the game. Turco and Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov squared off in one of the more memorable goaltender showdowns in a long while. Nabokov had an incredible glove save on Brad Richards early in the first overtime. He snagged a puck out of the air that was about three-quarters of the way over the goal line. Video review confirmed the save had been made in time.

``You look, you watch the replay and go, `All right, in one eye and out the other eye,’’’ Turco said. ``It is tough. It’s mentally taxing. But it’s inspiring to me, to see the game being right there and that close, and you just say…`screw that, not tonight.’’’

Sharks fall short of history

San Jose was hoping to become one of just five teams in NHL history who start a series down 3-0 and still push it to a seventh game. However, Dallas was able to close out the best-of-7 Western Conference semifinal in six games. Only two teams have won a series in which they start down 3-0 - the Maple Leafs in 1942 and the Islanders in 1975.

``For most the game we carried the play. We have nothing to hang our heads in shame,’’ Stars coach Ron Wilson said. San Jose had 62 shots on goal to 55 for the Stars, but the two teams were evenly matched with strong scoring chances on each side. However, that’s not how Wilson saw it.

``We out-shot ‘em, out-chanced ‘em, but we didn’t win on the scoreboard and that’s the only place that it really matters,’’ Wilson said. ``I thought we controlled them completely tonight. They got a power play goal…It’s just a shame that that’s how we had to lose the game.’’

The Stars admitted they did not want to go back to San Jose and play Game 7 Tuesday.

"I didn't want to say it to the players, but with a seven-period game and jumping on that plane tomorrow, that would have been no fun, no fun at all," Stars coach Dave Tippett said "I don't know if the players thought that way, but that would be a tough row to hoe, going there."

Michalek hit hard. Michalek had his head down tracking a puck, when Morrow crushed him with a shoulder check. Morrow did not hit Michalek’s head, but there was a whiplash effect that could have caused a concussion by jarring the brain against the inside of the skull.

"Obviously, when Milan got hurt at the end of regulation, we played the overtime without him,’’ Wilson said. ``A whole game with a short bench, and our guys just kept going.’’

When asked if he could update Michalek’s health, Wilson replied: ``It’s irrelevant. It’s over, so we have to move on.’’

Stars get ready to face Detroit: Dallas is 4-11-1 against the Red Wings over the past four seasons, including 1-3-0 this season. Marty Turco (2-10-5 lifetime against Detroit) has never won at Joe Louis Arena as an NHL goalie (he won there when he played at the University of Michigan).

“Nobody gave us a chance against Anaheim, and nobody gave us a chance against San Jose,” Stars coach Dave Tippett said. “The guys in there just believe in each other.”

Turco said he expects to carry the pressure.

“We saw the last series was tough,” Turco said. “This is going to be even tougher.”

Stat watch:

Game 6 officially lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes, beginning at 8:10 pm and ending at 1:24 am
The Stars have now won four of their last five playoff overtime games, and Stars captain Brenden Morrow has scored three of the winning goals. Mattias Norstrom scored the other.