X Factor: Devils win war of attrition
By Joe Lago
ESPN.com
DALLAS -- As the New Jersey Devils slowly walked single file into the locker room at the end of regulation, it was easy to tell who were the forwards. They were the ones having trouble catching their breath.
|  | | Dallas' Darryl Sydor (5) suffered a high ankle sprain after getting hit by New Jersey's Scott Gomez. |
Overtime was the last thing the Devils or the Dallas Stars wanted Saturday night -- not after having endured three overtimes 48 hours earlier in a classic Game 5 won by Dallas 1-0. Not after dealing with nightmarish return flights to Texas on Friday.
But three periods of hard-fought, physical hockey had brought the Stanley Cup finals to this question: Who could handle the fatigue best with a man down?
Both clubs had lost key players in the first period. Stars defenseman Darryl Sydor, a key cog in Dallas' power play, left the ice after suffering a leg injury from a collision with New Jersey center Scott Gomez. Devils right wing Petr Sykora, a member of New Jersey's top line, left the arena on a stretcher after getting side-swiped by Dallas hitman Derian Hatcher.
In the end, the Devils' defensemen provided stronger support for their forwards. New Jersey enjoyed an 11-1 shots-on-goal advantage in the first overtime, then finally buried a chance at the Cup-clinching goal at 8:20 of the second OT off Jason Arnott's stick for a 2-1 victory.
New Jersey outshot Dallas a whopping 45-31 overall, including 14-2 after regulation.
"You get to this point and tiredness shouldn't be a factor -- it shouldn't come into play," Stars center Mike Modano said. "You're running on emotion and energy. You should be in condition by this time of year."
The Stars were already playing with just three centers by choice. Head coach Ken Hitchcock, as in Game 5, had Mike Modano and Joe Nieuwendyk skating double shifts with three sets of wings while Guy Carbonneau anchored the checking line. Sykora's injury forced Devils head coach Larry Robinson to go to with a three-center rotation as well with Jason Arnott, Bobby Holik and John Madden.
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MOST GAME 6 MINUTES
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Player
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Team
|
Time
|
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Sergei Zubov
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Dal
|
43:16
|
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Richard Matvichuk
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Dal
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40:05
|
|
Mike Modano
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Dal
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38:17
|
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Derian Hatcher
|
Dal
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38:06
|
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Scott Stevens
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NJ
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36:26
|
|
Scott Niedermayer
|
NJ
|
34:41
|
Dallas had to make do with one less body on the blue line. The loss of Sydor turned out to be crucial when Patrik Elias slipped the puck past Derian Hatcher to Arnott, who was left wide open by Sylvain Cote.
Cote, the Stars' sixth defenseman, was on the ice for both New Jersey goals while helping make up for Sydor's absence in his 31:51 of ice time.
"I think they lost a good player, too," Hitchcock said of Sykora. "But Sydor was a real good player towards the end of the series."
No one in the Dallas dressing room used fatigue or injuries as an excuse. If anyone could, it would've been Modano, who, once again, drew as much ice time as possible.
"When you get to this point, there's no emptiness in the tank," said Modano, who logged 38 minutes, 17 seconds -- seven minutes more than any other forward in the game. "Sometimes you're just running on fumes."
By game's end, Dallas had nothing left in its tank. |
