DALLAS -- Really, it's hard to imagine that Chris Osgood is completely correct in his assessment.
"Just a little altercation that's over with now," the Detroit goalie insisted Sunday, a day after the Red Wings' 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars was marred by an ugly ending.
Mike Ribeiro is restrained by Wings’ Kris Draper at end of regulation.
But don't expect the fracas to be forgotten.
In the closing seconds of Game 2 of the Western Conference final, Osgood used the handle of his stick to poke Dallas' Mike Ribeiro, who responded from behind the net with a two-handed slash across the goalie's chest.
"He actually tries to do it. It's not like he accidentally hit me," Ribeiro said, defending himself Sunday after not being around for post-game interviews. "He kind of was bent down, raised up and clipped me in the face."
Ribeiro, Osgood and Stars forward Steve Ott were fined by the league for their actions at the end of Game 2, but all three players will be on the ice tonight for Game 3 when the best-of-seven series shifts to Dallas with the Red Wings holding a 2-0 lead.
Ribeiro said he was only retaliating.
Ribeiro (above) was trying to get at this guy, Wings goalie Chris Osgood.
"If he doesn't do that, I don't think I react, I have no reason to do what I did," Ribeiro said.
Osgood obviously disagreed, saying, "By no means was I trying to hit him in the face with my stick."
What can't be debated is that Dallas is already in a deep hole in its first conference final appearance since 2000. The Stars returned home with 2-0 series leads in each of the first two rounds of this year's playoffs, but weren't able to duplicate that success against the top-seeded Red Wings.
Detroit will be going for its ninth straight win, which would be the franchise record for a single post-season. It would also be the longest in the NHL since Montreal won 11 in a row on the way to winning the 1993 Stanley Cup.
"You're not going to rattle us. We've got too much experience for that," Detroit's Darren McCarty said.
While the stage appears set for things to get even more feisty when the series resumes, Mike Modano believes the Stars can't be focused on what happened at the end of Game 2.
"That's probably the most you're going to see of it (Saturday) night, hopefully," Modano said. "They're not a very physical team by any means, but they do play the game... And for us to try to get into some street fight ain't going to work. You have to play the game of hockey and right now, they're doing it better than us."
The Red Wings did so in Game 2 without Johan Franzen, who was scratched from the lineup because of concussion-like symptoms. He's had recurring headaches since early in the previous series, and will miss tonight's Game 3 as well.
"It caught me by surprise," coach Mike Babcock said. "We'd love to have him. He's a good player. But we've got a good team and we can go on with or without him."
-- The Associated Press
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