Avs, Stars Both in Denial About Series

Colorado Avalanche's Joe Sakic (19) battles for the puck with Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco (35) in the first period of their NHL playoff hockey game in Dallas, Monday, April 24, 2006. The Avalanche won 5-4. (AP Photo/LM Otero) (Lm Otero - AP)

"We did a lot of good things out of hard work. ... Brenden Morrow, he was the poster child for how to play a hard playoff game. That's exactly what we need. But the bottom line is you've got to win."

Still, the Stars held their heads high as they traveled to Denver.

"What we did for the last 40 minutes was a good sign," Dallas defenseman Philippe Boucher said. "There were a couple of breakdowns early and that got us in a hole. But we have a lot of positives to get us on track."

Among them is a franchise-best 25-12-4 road record, second only to Detroit's 31 road wins. The Stars won both games in Denver this season, in 3-2 shootouts.

But the franchise hasn't overcome a 2-0 playoff deficit since the Minneapolis North Stars came back to beat Los Angeles 4-3 in the 1968 NHL quarterfinals.

For Dallas to turn the series around, goalie Marty Turco is going to have to stop more shots. He has surrendered 10 goals so far in this series and in seven career playoff games against Colorado, he's allowed 28 pucks into the net for a 1-6 record.

Tippett, though, is sticking with Turco in net, too, rather than giving Johan Hedberg a shot.

"We need Marty to make some more saves for us," Tippett said. "We've got to find a way to win and he needs to be a big part of it."

Turco insists his psyche isn't shaken: "It's not going to serve me any benefit to dwell on it. I'm still confident I can make saves and make a difference."

Yet, Turco took his latest loss particularly hard because of how much better his teammates had played.

"It was 100 times better effort," Turco said "Now we've got to steal two wins out there."

Which is what the Avs admit they did in Dallas.

"We didn't expect to win there," Colorado's Pierre Turgeon acknowledged Tuesday.

And Stephane Robidas thinks going on the road will be just the thing to get the Stars back on track.

"I think we play much better on the road than at home," he said. "Maybe we just try to keep it simple. Maybe we try to put on a show and try to do too much at home. When we play physical, move the puck down low, that's our strength. That's who the Dallas Stars are."