In a marathon game that started at 8:04 pm CDT in Dallas Sunday night, and ended over 5 hours later at 1:21 am CDT early Monday morning, the Dallas Stars knocked the San Jose Sharks out of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and themselves advanced to the Western Finals v. Detroit. After regulation ended in a 1-1 score, the teams proceeded to play into four more 20 minute periods of play to decide the winner. In the overtime periods, both goaltenders turned in stellar performances. The games first star, Marty Turco, turned away 61 of 62 shots. Everyone grinded it out, as the OT periods kept passing by with the score still locked in at 1-1. There was some exceptional performances by Dallas' Brad Richards and San Jose's Jeremy Roneick in particular, as both kept setting their teams up for chances to score. In the 4th OT, the dagger finally came when Dallas captain Brenden Morrow tipped in a blast by Stephan Robidas to get past the also stellar Evgeni Nabokov. Both teams battled to the end, in a game that is surely to go down in hockey history as one of the classics of all-time. Now, the final four of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are set. The Eastern Conference Finals will feature two teams from Pennsylvania: the Flyers v. the Penguins, while the Western Conference Finals will feature perennial powerhouse Detroit Red Wings v. the Dallas Stars. It should be a good one. As a final note from this early morning's broadcast, it was revealed that in between overtime periods, the players are given pizza, gatorade, and IV fluids to replenish their bodies and keep them going through the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment