Friday, May 09, 2008

Detroit dominates Dallas in game number one


The Dallas Stars may be taking longer to recuperate than they might like from their marathon session with San Jose on Sunday night.

Despite the three day break between that series and the Western final, Detroit looked very much the more rested and more prepared of the two teams on Thursday night. The Red Wings opened up their best of seven series with the Stars by picking up where they left off against the Avalanche, with plenty of scoring opportunities and some solid defensive play in front of Chris Osgood.

Detroit clogged the front of Marty Turco’s net, the Stars unable to move the likes of Johan Franzen or Tomas Holstrom from their perch, leading to three power play goals that quickly pushed the Wings into the lead and into command of game number one. By the time the sixty minutes was up, Detroit had a 4-1 result on the scoreboard and once again had bested a Dallas squad that must already be weary of playing the Red Wings.
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The fact that Detroit had as many power play opportunities as they did, raised a few eyebrows from the followers of the Stars, who felt that the interpretation of the rules on Thursday was very much slanted in favour of the team wearing the red Jerseys.

The Stars seemed to have problems dealing with the Red Wings play in the Dallas end of the rink, frequently allowing Wings unfettered access to the goal mouth, a policy which proved costly as the game went on.

The loss continues a trend for Dallas who have had their difficulties over the years winning playoff games at the Joe Louis Arena, Detroit has won all three previous playoff match ups between the two teams, a trend that Dallas had best get working on ending quickly, if they have any designs on a berth in the Stanley Cup final.
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Detroit Free Press-- Stars stumble on penalty kill
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NHL.com--Stats pack

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