Playoffs 2000:Belfour calls his shot (and save) in Game 5

Belfour calls his shot (and save) in Game 5
By Joe Lago
ESPN.com

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Ed Belfour has the knack of seeing things before they happen. Some would call it clairvoyance. In hockey, it's just called being a goaltender. Goalies are weird that way.

Thu, June 8
In a pressure situation, especially for Ed Belfour because he had his back completely against the wall, it was one of the greatest performances in a playoff game I have ever seen. His margin for error was so little. It wasn't like they were scoring lots of goals. Martin Brodeur was playing great. It was like Belfour told the team to just hop on his back and that he would carry them. Some of the saves he made were absolutely magnificent and his composure, his intensity, it never wavered at all. We know he is in great shape, but mentally he has great stamina.

Belfour foresaw the benefit of playing for Team Canada and raising his NHL stock as a rookie free agent before finally signing with Chicago in 1987. After being dealt to San Jose at the trading deadline in 1997, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner thought his dream of winning a Stanley Cup would never come true with the Sharks. He signed with Dallas that offseason, leading the Stars to the title last year.

So when Belfour predicted he would win Game 5 of the 2000 Stanley Cup finals in a 1-0 duel with New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, the Devils should have booked a return flight to Dallas for Game 6 right then and there.

With a performance that was both Ruthian and Dryden-like, Belfour backed up his words by stopping all 48 of the Devils' shots in a 1-0 triple-overtime marathon that ended as the fourth longest game in Cup finals history.

The shutout was Belfour's postseason-leading fourth and 11th of his playoff career. He has now won the last four games with the Stars facing elimination.

"I felt strong tonight," said Belfour, who improved his career playoff record in overtime to 17-14. "I was seeing the puck well and I had some good breaks. I think you've got to have that."

Several shots came precariously close to ending Dallas' season. Patrik Elias' backhand attempt early in the third period slipped past Belfour and squirted dangerously through the crease, and Bobby Holik hit a post in the first overtime.

But Belfour was both fortunate and fabulous. He stopped point-blank attempts by Holik all night long and sprinted out into the low slot to snuff out Alexander Mogilny's breakaway in the second OT.

"Belfour stood on his head," Devils head coach Larry Robinson said.

4 shutouts, 1 playoff year
Year	Player	Team
2000	Ed Belfour	Dallas
1994	Kirk McLean	Vancouver
1994	Mike Richter	N.Y. Rangers
1977	Ken Dryden	Montreal
1975	Bernie Parent	Philadelphia
1952	Terry Sawchuk	Detroit
1945	Frank McCool	Toronto
1937	Dave Kerr	N.Y. Rangers
1928	Clint Benedict	Montreal Maroons
1926	Clint Benedict	Montreal Maroons

At the other end of Continental Airlines Arena, Brodeur -- who, like Belfour, learned the butterfly style from Russian goaltending legend Vladislav Tretiak -- marveled at the clinic the two were putting on. "It was a fun time. Eddie Belfour was magnificent out there," he said.

"We feel tired as players and skaters," said Mike Modano, who scored the game-winning goal at 6:21 of the third overtime. "But you can't believe, can't fathom what those goalies go through - the mental toughness, the focus to be out there for six periods."

Asked if this was his best game ever, Belfour remembered stopping 75 shots once as a kid. As the game progressed past midnight, he and his teammates called on their past sudden-death experiences to remain calm.

"The guys in between periods were staying focused and try to remember the overtime games we played last year during the playoffs," Belfour said. "We kept using that as motivation."

Belfour already knew things would go Dallas' way. After all, he had laced up the same lucky skates he wore in last year's Cup-clinching win over Buffalo.

Yes, there are some things only a goalie can understand.

"We were joking before the game and I said, 'Just stop it Eddie, stop everything and we will probably win because we will probably find a way to get one anyway,'" said Brett Hull, who set up Modano's game-winner. "He said, 'OK.' It's funny how that works out."