Stars take the lead

Dallas
Stars

"We're not done yet, but tonight was a big step for us," said Nieuwendyk.

Dallas was playing with injured Mike Modano, who received a pain-killing injection before the game and played with the wrist in a cast, and without Brett Hull, who suffered a groin injury and is doubtful for Game 4 on Tuesday.

"If Hull can't play, that's going to be tough, but we've got some good people sitting in the wings. There's a lot of confidence here," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said.

Ed Belfour was solid in the Stars net and was backed by suberb defensive effort by Dallas including many blocked shots.

"That's our game. Obviously, we try to get people away from our goaltender and let Eddie see the first shot," defenseman Craig Ludwig said. "He's no different than the guy down at the other end. If they can see the puck they're going to stop it. I think that's one of our assets is we've got defensemen who are willing to block a shot if they have to."

The Sabres suffered their first loss at home in the playoffs dropping to 7-1. Buffalo was 0-for-7 with the extra man, failing to score on the power play for only the second time in 18 playoff games.

"This is the first chunk of adversity we're going to have to face," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "We played a bad hockey game. If we play like that, we're going to lose. We have to come out and win Tuesday night and then go from there."