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BOX SCORE
DALLAS (AP) – The Dallas Stars knew they had to contain St.
Louis' Pierre Turgeon, Keith Tkachuk and Scott Young.
But Marty Reasoner?
|  | | Blues goalie Roman Turek makes one of his 21 saves on Dallas center Joe Nieuwendyk. Turek is 4-0-2 vs. the Stars. |
Reasoner, who played nearly as many games this season in the
minors as he did the NHL, set up the Blues' first goal and scored
the next two as St. Louis beat Dallas 4-2 on Friday night in the
opener of the second-round series.
"I don't think Dallas was too worried about me," said
Reasoner, who played in only one of six games in the first round.
"That's what the playoffs are all about," Blues coach Joel
Quenneville said. "Sometimes guys you don't expect end up coming
through for you – not that we don't think Marty can do that."
The Stars suffered another loss early in the second period when
center Mike Modano knocked legs with Alexei Gusarov. Modano limped
off the ice with an injured left ankle and did not return. He left
the arena wearing a walking boot.
An MRI exam Saturday will determine whether Modano, who leads
Dallas with three goals and five points this postseason, will be
back for Game 2 Sunday night.
"He's our best player," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. "So
it would be as deflating as if St. Louis lost Turgeon."
The Stars were trailing 2-1 when Modano left. Within eight
minutes, they were down 4-1.
That was actually an improvement over the way Dallas responded
to Modano's last injury. In the first round against Edmonton, the
Stars gave up three goals in a shorter span while Modano was
getting 35 stitches on his nose.
"He's a top player, a big part of their power play and
5-on-5," Quenneville said. "It was a break for us knowing he
didn't play a majority of the game."
Former Blues star Brett Hull tried leading a comeback, but he
was repeatedly snuffed by goalie Roman Turek, who also was facing
his former team.
Turek, a backup on Dallas' 1999 Stanley Cup championship squad,
made 21 saves – including five on Hull in the third period – to
improve to 4-0-2 against the Stars.
"They tried hard, but they didn't have a lot of scoring
chances," Turek said. "I feel good. It's a big confidence boost
for us."
Ed Belfour, who has failed to win all six games against his
former understudy, had little help in stopping St. Louis' early
flurry.
Dallas defenseman Darryl Sydor contributed to the Blues' first
two goals and was on the ice for all four St. Louis goals. Captain
Derian Hatcher was with him for three of them.
"This is one of the worst games we've played in a long time,"
Hatcher said. "We just didn't do a whole lot of things right. We
were not ready to play. That's the bottom line."
Reasoner had 35 points in 34 games for Worcester of the American
Hockey League. He was recalled three times by St. Louis and had
four goals and nine assists in 41 games.
He got rolling early by taking a giveaway by Sydor in the Dallas
zone and feeding Pavol Demitra on a 2-on-1 chance. Demitra slid the
puck between the pads of Stars goalie Ed Belfour.
After Dallas' John MacLean tied it 53 seconds later, Reasoner
stole the puck from Sydor against the boards, walked in on Belfour
and beat him on the glove slide for his third career playoff goal.
All the Stars were caught out of position on Reasoner's second
goal, allowing him to again skate at the goal untouched. He faked
Belfour to the ice, then flipped the puck over him.
Turgeon scored on a 3-on-2 break, using a screen from MacLean to
beat Belfour.
Brad Lukowich scored Dallas' other goal with 7:38 left. The
Stars then failed on their sixth power play and couldn't score in
nearly two minutes with an empty net.
Dallas has not scored on its last 19 tries with the man
advantage. Among the chances the Stars wasted in this game was a
double-minor against Blues captain Chris Pronger in the opening
minutes.
St. Louis has killed all 28 power plays it has faced this
postseason.
Game notes
The Blues' victory made it a clean sweep for all four road
teams in second-round openers. The only other time that happened
was 1968. ... Dallas has lost all four second-round series in which
it has lost the first game. ... The Blues are trying to get to the
conference finals for the first time since 1986. They've fallen in
the second round eight times, twice to the Stars' franchise _ in
1991, when Minnesota went to the finals, and in '99, when Dallas
won the Cup.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Dallas Clubhouse
Injured Modano says he could skate for Stars on Sunday
Stars' Modano leaves Game 1 with leg injury
RECAPS
St. Louis 4
Dallas 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Pavol Demitra gets things started as he slips the puck past Ed Belfour for the early lead.
avi: 1254 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
John MacLean's unassisted goal squares the score at 1.
avi: 1403 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Marty Reasoner bounces off the boards and skates to the net to put the Blues back on top 2-1.
avi: 1235 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
St. Louis works the 3-on-1 break with Pierre Turgeon finishing for the 4-1 lead.
avi: 1292 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
 Marty Reasoner doesn't expect two-goal performances every night in the playoffs.
wav: 266 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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