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 Tired Blues must catch rested Stars
Posted: Wednesday May 05, 1999 09:57 PM
DALLAS (AP) -- The first two games are on home ice. They've had a week's vacation. Their wounded have healed. What more could the Dallas Stars ask for going into their Western Conference semifinals against St. Louis on Thursday night? They'd like to have captain Derian Hatcher but he has one more game to serve on his seven-game suspension for breaking Jeremy Roenick's jaw. They'd also like for Brett Hull to score a goal. Hull, the former member of the Blues, was signed to provide more scoring punch for the Stars particularly in the playoffs. He failed to score a goal in the Stars' four-game sweep of Edmonton and has been the constant source of kidding by his teammates. "I'd like to get one to get them off my back even if it's against a girl's team," Hull joked. Dallas has failed in recent playoff years because of a lack of scoring punch. "They know that the goals are going to come," Hull said. "Still it's been a little frustrating." He said Dallas is a different team than St. Louis because he doesn't have to carry the load. "In St. Louis if I'm not scoring, we're in trouble," said Hull, who spent 10 seasons with the Blues. "This team is much more balanced." St. Louis made a remarkable comeback after being down 3-1 to beat Phoenix 1-0 early Wednesday morning on an overtime goal by Pierre Turgeon in game 7. The tired Blues will play in Dallas again Saturday night before returning home. Dallas has had plenty of time to heal its injured players with the week off including right wings Pat Verbeek and Grant Marshall, defensemen Shawn Chambers and Richard Matvichuk, and center Tony Hrkac. All were expected to be available for the opener. Only Guy Carbonneau, who scored a game-winning goal against Edmonton, was expected to miss more time with sprained knee ligaments. Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock is wary of the Blues even if they are worn down from their exhausting series. "St. Louis has given us fits for three years," Hitchcock said. "We've struggled against them and they may be the toughest team for us to play. They play a very strong, tight team game. They're quick and they've been able to break down our forechecking patterns with good puck movement." St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville just hopes his team can somehow have lively legs after their draining and physical series against the Coyotes. "Dallas is well rested and will have a lot of energy in the first game," Quenneville said. "We just have to find a way to slow them down and try to win a tight game like we did against Phoenix."
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