X Factor: Home no longer sweet for Stars
By Joe Lago
ESPN.com
DALLAS -- Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who's quite the hockey fanatic, is set to release on Friday his latest summer blockbuster called "Gone in 60 Seconds," an action flick on car theft.
|  | | Joe Nieuwendyk's lone goal was far from enough for the Stars to salvage a home win in Game 4. |
Perhaps, Bruckheimer could base the sequel on the New Jersey Devils. In just 77 seconds, the Devils may have made the Dallas Stars' season vanish. Two goals in that short time span stole the confidence Dallas has relied on at Reunion Arena to reach consecutive Stanley Cup finals.
Because of the Devils' 3-1 victory on Monday, a new champ could be crowned after 60 minutes on Thursday when the best-of-7 series returns to the Garden State with New Jersey up three games to one.
"Obviously, the momentum is on their side," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We have got two days to recoup to get healthy."
With their remarkable three-goals-in-four-minutes sequence to erase Dallas' 1-0 lead early in the third period, the Devils robbed more than just the Stars' swagger. They removed the final remaining piece of their aura of invincibility on home ice -- particularly in the postseason.
Consider that:
The Stars -- and goaltender Ed Belfour -- were 9-0 after a playoff defeat the past two seasons.
The Stars had gone 32 straight games without dropping back-to-back games at Reunion.
The Stars were 11-0 when leading after two periods this postseason.
With those stats, you can throw out the belief the Devils are underdogs despite owning home-ice advantage. After escaping a 3-1 series hole against Philadelphia in the East finals, New Jersey has earned the luxury of having three games to capture its second Cup in five seasons.
"It's not over until it's over," said Belfour, borrowing an oft-used line from Yogi Berra. "You have to go in there with the mindset of playing tough again and that anything can happen. We're definitely not going to think about three straight."
For the Stars and their fans, 1942 suddenly becomes an important year to remember. That was the last time a team rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to win the Cup when Toronto came back to beat Detroit, which opened that series with three consecutive wins.
"It is possible. It's been done before," Stars center Mike Modano said. "Now it is just more or less focus our concentration on Thursday."
"Usually, the last one is the hardest to win," Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "Definitely, the longer you go in a series, the more things can happen through injuries or bad luck. We know this firsthand, having come through a series ourselves where we thought that we were down and out.
"So there is no reason why, with the amount of veterans that they have and the talent and experience that is over there, that they are not going to come out even stronger the next game." |
Coach Ken Hitchcock is looking for some goals from the Stars.
