Mattias Norstrom is your old-time D-man. His stick has barely a curve and nobody looks for him to make the nifty play, a la Sergei Zubov. Anytime he hits the score sheet, it’s a bonus. His job is to prevent goals, not score them.
But there was Norstrom celebrating his overtime game-winner on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks, giving the Stars a 2-1 victory and sending Dallas to a three games to none edge in the semifinal series.
“I tried to get it on net and it went off a stick,’’ Norstrom said. “Fortunately it went in. I don't score a lot, so it was the biggest goal of my career.’’
Norstrom notched a mere two goals in the regular season and has 18 in 14 seasons, but he’s become an offensive factor in these playoffs. His assist set up Brenden Morrow for the overtime winner against San Jose in Game 1, and he has two goals and three assists in the playoffs.
Before this season, the native of Stockholm, Sweden had never registered a goal in 38 previous playoff games.
Norstrom’s shot from beyond the left circle glanced off the stick of San Jose’s Jeremy Roenick and over the shoulder of Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov at 4:37 of overtime.
“We were putting the pressure on, the puck popped out to me and I tried to get it on net as quickly as I could. It hit his stick and it ended up in the net,’’ Norstrom said. “I’ll take it off sticks, off feet, as long as it goes in. I've never had a bigger goal. It feels great."
In an age when most players have severely curved sticks, Morrow looks at Norstrom’s straight-bladed lumber and shakes his head. But the Stars captain sure appreciates the results.
Asked where he would have ranked Norstrom in any game-winning-goal pool, Morrow laughed and said, “He would have been real deep in my depth chart.
“He's picked up his offensive game, shooting the puck and seeing plays the rest of us aren't seeing. I don't know if anyone's seen the curve on his stick, he does a heck of a job playing with something like that.’’
Dallas hasn’t led a series three games to none since 1999 when the Stars swept the Edmonton Oilers in the first round en route to their only Stanley Cup.
The Dallas Stars like to move on and start concentrating on the next game as soon as the last one is over, but it's hard to imagine them ever being able to get Thursday night's bizarre ending out of their head. Dallas saved face in a game they looked destined to squander. Thanks to a bizarre gaffe, the Edmonton Oilers did, too.
"I've been in pro hockey — what is it? — almost 25 years now, and I've never seen that and I hope I never see it again," Tippett said. "I guarantee you that won't happen to Stef again. There's about 15 years of craziness between Edmonton and Dallas." Tippett said that the missed shot into an empty net by forward Patrik Stefan was a huge mistake – leading to the tying goal for the Oilers in a game the Stars won, 6-5, in a shootout. But the coach was just as upset that Stefan tried to score into an empty net a half a minute earlier and almost iced the puck.
Thursday night's game ended in one of the most improbable endings in recent memory, with the Dallas Stars up 5-4, Stefan had a breakaway on an empty net with seven seconds left in regulation. But he lost control of the puck in the Edmonton crease, with the Oilers net empty in favour of an extra attacker, and overskated the net. Stefan then wiped out and the Edmonton Oilers retrieved the puck and raced back up the ice on one last desperate attempt. The Oilers Ryan Smyth took the puck along the right sideboards and hit Ales Hemsky charging down the slot all alone. Hemsky made a nice deke on Stars goalie Marty Turco, and ####ed a backhander into the net past the netminder with just 2.0 seconds on the clock, stunning the Stars and forcing overtime.
"It's something that shouldn't happen." "I tried to carry it all the way to the net, but unfortunately, it just jumped over my stick," explained Stefan.
Sounds like an excuse to me. The bottom line is Dallas gave away a point that could be very costly later in the year come playoff time.
``They may show it a million times for years to come,'' joked Stefan. ``I mean, we came out with the two points so it's easy to laugh about it right now. ``It's not like I missed the net, I saw it was bad ice and I had so much time so I just tried to carry it all the way to the net. As soon as I put it on my back hand it jumped over my stick. Not much I can do about that.''
Stefan! Wrong! You made more than one mistake. Admit it. Get over it. Quit making excuses. When I saw the replay, I thought, AADHD moment. Get help if you need it.
Niklas Hagman thought the empty-net goal turned breakaway at the other end with two seconds left had to be divine intervention.
Oilers Coach Craig MacTavish was happy to take the free point. ``We were bestowed a miracle at the end,'' said MacTavish. ``I have never seen anything like it. It's one of those moments in hockey that you'll remember forever. It turned a disaster into a debacle.''
A debacle? The Stars can not afford to have debacles. They aren't good enough to get away with it. Maybe in the past. But not this year.
``That was bizarre,'' said Dallas defenceman Darryl Sydor. ``Seconds left with an empty net and then it's down in our end and tie game. I've never seen any thing like that and you probably won't see anything like that again for a long time.''
"That was an emotional roller-coaster, that's for sure," Turco said.
The Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers have engaged in many memorable battles over the years, most in the playoffs when the two clubs met six out of seven years from 1997-2003. But Thursday night's matchup at Rexall in Edmonton must rank very high up on the list. The Stars displayed remarkable resiliency in outlasting the Oilers 6-5 in the shootout, in a game that featured several moments that could only be described as unusual.
In their second shootout in as many nights, the Stars were powered by their reliable aces, Sergei Zubov and Jussi Jokinen, each of whom scored in the game-deciding penalty shot competition. When Turco stopped Hemsky and Petr Sykora's shot zipped wide left, Dallas had secured yet another shootout victory, improving its record this season to 4-1 and 16-2 over the past two years.
Trailing 4-2 entering the third, Turco replaced starting goaltender Mike Smith. "He had a headache and we kept him out for precautionary reasons," Tippett said. Smith has now allowed four goals in each of his last three starts, and has been pulled in two of them.
At 3:35 in the second Smith took a Marc-Andre Bergeron slap shot flush in the mask, stunning the rookie netminder. Smith went down falling straight back immediately and was tended to by Stars head athletic trainer Dave Surprenant, but after a few minutes to recover and replacing his dented facemask, Smith remained on the ice. At 3:55 Stu Barnes was whistled for high-sticking, putting Dallas at a two-man disadvantage for 1:36. The Oilers didn't need nearly that long, as Petr Nedved cashed in just 17 seconds later with his first goal since being claimed off waivers from Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Stars General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today that the club has recalled goaltender Tobias Stephan from the Iowa Stars, Dallas' primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League. Stephan will meet the team in Calgary, where it will face off against the Flames on Saturday at 9 p.m. CT. Goaltender Mike Smith will miss that game, as he is day-to-day with a mild concussion.
The Stars fell behind by two goals in the first six minutes for the second time in their last three games.
Dallas was once again without the services of the injured Mike Modano, Eric Lindros, Brenden Morrow and Steve Ott. Dallas fell to 7-8 while Modano recovers from his injury.
On Wednesday night the Dallas Stars had the Vancouver Canucks down, but failed to knock them out. Ryan Kesler scored the deciding goal in the sixth-round of a shootout to give the surging Canucks a 2-1 win over the Stars at Vancouver's GM Place. The Canucks Brendan Morrison and Dallas' Jussi Jokinen each scored in the second-round before Kesler was able to solve Turco with a nifty move on his first shootout attempt of the season. Zubov's attempt in the first round hit the post after he was able to deke Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo.
Dallas captured a much-needed point to stay on pace with the San Jose Sharks, who were idle.
The Stars hurt their cause by failing to capitalize on back-to-back power-play attempts with less than six minutes left in the middle frame. Dallas was 0-for-7 on the power play after coming in having converted seven of its last 17 man-advantage opportunities.
Despite persistent injuries, the Dallas Stars improved from a 7-7 November to a 9-6 December. The team has found ways to win while implementing new player strategy. As the Stars depart for their second trip to Western Canada, Coach Dave Tippett's squad will once again rely on solid team play to get the job done. Dallas takes on teams in the extremely tight Northwest Division beginning with Vancouver tonight and Edmonton on Thursday. The Stars then face Calgary on Saturday.
Tonight's game marks the opener of a four-game homestand for the Canucks, who have scored 20 goals during a five-game win streak at GM Place. Vancouver hasn't won five straight since a six-game run from Oct. 14-25, 2005, but extending their current streak won't be easy with Marty Turco in net for Dallas Turco has been brilliant in his career against the Canucks, going 12-2-0 with two shutout wins and a 1.69 goals-against average. He has allowed five goals during a personal four-game win streak against Vancouver. Nevertheless, the surging Canucks look to post a rare victory against Turco and the Stars.
What are Turco's thoughts on this roadtrip? "It will be a cold whirlwind, as we travel through and play in three great Canadian cities against three great Canadian teams." The Stars could meet the Northwest Division leader three times in the three games in the tough division. The Canucks are one point behind Northwest Division-leading Minnesota and one ahead of the third-place Flames. All five teams in the division are separated by four points.
Vancouver has proven its dominance over Alberta's two teams during a season-high four-game win streak. Tonight's test should be even more difficult. Facing division rivals four times in the span of a week is a difficult assignment, but the Canucks (21-18-1) emerged from that stretch with four impressive wins. ``I think we've been playing pretty solid hockey lately and everyone's stepping up,'' left wing Alex Burrows told the Canucks Web site. ``We've been playing solid in the first period and that's been the key.''
Henrik and Daniel Sedin, who were taken second and third by the Canucks in the 1999 draft behind Stars forward Patrik Stefan, are having breakout seasons. The Stars have to find a way to stop their line if they are to win tonight's contest. Daniel has six goals and three assists in the last four games. Henrik has one goal and six assists in that span. The Stars and Canucks have split two games this season with each side winning 2-1.
Dallas will also need help from their bench as Mike Modano and Eric Lindross are not able to make the trip. Modano is out with an injury to the groin and hip while Lindross is out with rib injuries. ``We've battled more adversity than we ever did last year,'' Tippett said. ``I think that will make us better in the long run.''
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But there was Norstrom celebrating his overtime game-winner on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks, giving the Stars a 2-1 victory and sending Dallas to a three games to none edge in the semifinal series.
In an age when most players have severely curved sticks, Morrow looks at Norstrom’s straight-bladed lumber and shakes his head. But the Stars captain sure appreciates the results.
