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Dallas' order - burgers . . . hold the elimination

Lynn DeBruin, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 29, 2006 at midnight

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The Dallas Stars ought to skip practice more often.

Turns out that little jaunt up the mountains for some greasy burgers worked wonders.

Friday night, they played a brand of hockey they had yet to show in the playoffs, with a relentless attack that propelled them to a 4-1 victory against Colorado at the Pepsi Center.

The win kept them alive, forcing a Game 5 on Sunday afternoon in Dallas.

No one was happier than beleaguered goalie Marty Turco, who entered the game on a five-game playoff losing streak dating to the 2004 postseason against the Avalanche.

"It's the kind of game we expected from ourselves the whole series, to play like that, play on the edge," Turco said.

"Too bad we had to wait until we got down 0-3 to play our best hockey."

In the first three games of this series, Turco's 4.53 goals-against average was among the worst in the playoffs.

Though he gave up a first-period goal to Brad Richardson, he turned away everything else.

His determination was particularly evident when he raced out almost to the blue line to beat Alex Tanguay to the puck late in the second period.

He thwarted a Colorado scoring opportunity and showed his teammates his heart.

"Marty was huge," defenseman Philippe Boucher said. "That's the Marty we know and the Marty we trust. He's an aggressive, confident guy. He's been a rock back there for us all year."

It wasn't just Turco who made the difference Friday.

The Stars did a much better job of getting the puck to the net. In Game 1, they had only five shots on goal in the first period; in Game 2, only three shots; and in Game 3, only six shots.

Friday night, they had 11 first-period shots on goal and held a 39-23 advantage overall.

And unlike the past two games, they didn't crumble at the end, continuing the barrage on offense and stifling the Avalanche on defense.

"We played 60 strong minutes. We didn't do that before," Boucher said.

Their special teams were particularly special.

Entering their game Friday night, they had allowed 19 power-play opportunities and given up five power-play goals - for a 73.7 kill percentage (13th of 16 among playoff teams).

Friday night, they killed off all six Colorado power-play opportunities.

Overall, the Stars looked much more like the team that just won its seventh division title in nine years, a feat that elicited comparisons to what the Dallas Cowboys had done under Tom Landry (11 division titles in 13 years).

And Turco looked more like the goalie who won 41 games during the regular season.

Maybe it was the fact that their backs were against the wall, facing a series sweep, and their second consecutive one-and-done playoff elimination.

Or maybe it was those cheeseburgers at the "hole in the wall" joint they found Thursday instead of practicing.

"Those were good, greasy burgers. I might have to have another one," said Dallas right wing Bill Guerin.

He might need it if the Stars are to pull off what only two NHL teams have done before - rally from a 3-0 deficit.

"It's a good feeling to play the way we did," Boucher said. "But it's just one game."