DETROIT -- Now, this was robbery.
Marty Turco committed grand theft Saturday, stealing another 48 hours of playoff life for Dallas when there was no other alternative.
Marty Turco's 38 saves were the difference for Dallas Stars on Saturday.
The Stars survived because Turco wouldn't let them die, stopping all but one of the 39 shots the Red Wings fired and flicked at him. They survived because the Wings proved incapable of slamming the door shut when the best opportunity presented itself.
They've left open a small crevice of light, and that could prove dangerous in hockey because you're often at the mercy of the lucky -- or unlucky -- bounce. You never give a goalie confidence. You never want him believing that he's suddenly made of brick and stone.
History still favours the Wings. They hold a 3-2 series lead following their 2-1 Game 5 setback. Turco's larceny doesn't change the reality that only two teams have ever completely recovered from a 0-3 playoff series deficit. It's still difficult imagining the Wings not receiving the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, representative of the Western Conference champion, either Monday night in Texas or Wednesday night back in Detroit.
But the Campbell Bowl remained unclaimed, symbolic more in this instance of a missed opportunity.
"They played with more confidence as a team," Jiri Hudler said. "And it started with how (Turco) played. I'm sure they're going to be very confident going back to their building, but we know that we could have played better, getting more traffic in front of him in the net."
Does the goaltending make the team? Or does the team make the goaltending? It was the former Saturday with Turco, who brought a horrid 0-9-2 professional record to Joe Louis Arena. He certainly enjoyed more success here during his collegiate days when he was 18-5 for Michigan at Joe Louis.
Turco deflected away the pressure dogging him this series like so many of the Wings' shots.
Now the pressure rests squarely on the Wings' shoulders.
"There's pressure on both teams," Wings' defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom said. "If they lose one game, the series is over. If we win, it's over, too. I don't really feel that pressure."
Detroit was braced for a celebration Saturday. Electricity reverberated throughout Joe Louis Arena, contradicting concerns that hockey stagnation had engulfed the area. It was a chance to pull the plug on the Stars and get some rest before the finals begin.
But Turco snatched the bottle just before Hockeytown prepared its toast.
A Dallas newspaper columnist argued that Turco was the better pure goalie than Detroit's Chris Osgood, even questioning the sanity of those trumpeting Ozzie's future Hall of Fame credentials should he etch his name on a second Stanley Cup. The columnist reasoned that Turco was the true star while Ozzie is the happy beneficiary of a collection of stars always playing in front of him.
It was certainly true Saturday.
-- Detroit Free Press
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