Dallas 2, Vancouver 0
In one of the closest series in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, of the Vancouver Canucks, had cautioned that this was no time for panic. Stay the course and the results should speak for themselves. They were wrong. By staying the course, the Vancouver Canucks failed to practice what they had preached — getting pucks and bodies to the net — and their power play once again was pathetic in a crucial 2-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday. The setback not only evened the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series at three games apiece, it put the Canucks on their heels heading into Monday night’s Game 7 at GM Place.
On a night when the Stars’ best players were their best players, Mike Modano scored the game-winning goal and hard-charging captain Brenden Morrow was banging bodies, the Canucks offered little in the way of an effective response. The Sedins, who have now gone five games without a point, didn’t even have a shot on goal between them through two periods. It was so bad that you could count the Canucks’ good scoring chances against Marty Turco on one hand. Even worse, the Canucks took stupid penalties and it was a 5-on-3 advantage in the first period that led to the Modano marker. With Trevor Linden off for holding and Kevin Bieksa for a stupid highstick on Niklas Hagman, the Stars methodically worked the puck around the perimeter before Sergei Zubov spotted Modano at the top of the left circle. With Jere Lehtinen providing an effective screen on goalie Roberto Luongo, Modano’s shot found the inside of the post on the glove side and deflected in at 3:05. Luongo had no chance on Modano’s first goal of the series, but you could argue he went down too early on the second.
Marty Turco came into the series trying to shed his image as an underachiever in the postseason. He had won only one of his four playoff series, including a loss to seventh-seed Colorado in five games last year, and his career save percentage dropped from .914 to .892 in the playoffs. Turco has allowed only one goal in his last 204 minutes. That was the game-winner in the fourth overtime of Game 1 before he posted shutouts in Games 2 and 5. In this series, Turco has stopped 190 of 199 shots (.955 save percentage).
That’s still only slightly better than playoff first-timer Luongo at .950 (209-of-220).
Detroit 5, Calgary 1
The Calgary Flames aren’t going down without a fight. Or a hook, crosscheck, slash or two, or three. When the Flames knew they’d fall behind 3-2 in the first-round series, they weren’t satisfied with just some scrums and trash talk. The lopsided game took an ugly turn with a few minutes left when Calgary backup goalie Jamie McLennan slashed Johan Franzen in the midsection. Flames star Jarome Iginla got into the act, with hooking and crosschecking penalties with 43 seconds left with aggressive stick work. “It was really about getting some fights going at that point to keep our energy up and carry some anger into the next game,” Iginla said with several new stitches over his left eye. “We’re not going away.” 
Daniel Cleary converted the first successful penalty shot ever in Detroit during the playoffs and Henrik Zetterberg had two goals and an assist in the Red Wings’ 5-1 victory over Calgary on Saturday. In the matchup of the Western Conference’s first-and eight-seeded teams, the home team has won each game. The Flames hope the trend continues Sunday night in Game 6. “I like that we’re right back at it,” Iginla said.
Cleary, Zetterberg and Chris Chelios scored in the second period and Zetterberg added another goal early in the third to give Detroit a 4-0 lead. Calgary’s Andrei Zyuzin deflected a shot past Dominik Hasek midway through the final period. Pavel Datsyuk put Detroit ahead 5-1 with 4:18 left to play and about a minute later, McLennan replaced Miikka Kiprusoff. McLennan was on the ice for only 18 seconds because he was penalized for slashing, and removed from the game with a match penalty and game misconduct.
The first two periods ended with pushing, punches and trash talk. With 4:42 left in the game, Detroit’s Todd Bertuzzi and Calgary’s Dion Phaneuf were tied up before Bertuzzi lifted Phaneuf off his skates and threw him down. Detroit defenseman Brett Lebda didn’t play after being called for a tripping penalty midway through the third period because he was punched by center Daymond Langkow while both were on the ground. “I was really disappointed. Not a little, but a lot,” Hasek said. “Their goalie, what he did and Iginla, he’s the captain of the team and should be in charge. “Those last 5 or 6 minutes if you were watching on TV, I think it was sort of disappointing.”
