[jg2977]

Alright folks, here’s the scoop from the American Airlines Center where the Dallas Stars put on a clinic to stave off elimination, beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-0 in Game 5 of this Conference Semifinal series. Manny Martinez was absolutely masterful today, tossing seven shutout innings, scattering four hits, striking out five, and throwing 97 pitches like a man possessed. That’s pitching under pressure, folks, and Dallas needed every bit of it to keep their hopes alive.
From the jump, the Stars made it clear they weren’t backing down. George Costanza set the tone early with a third homer of the postseason, a rocket off Rockies’ starter Rob Amador in the first inning. Then Rafael Contreras and Sung-ho Park added insurance runs with clutch RBI hits in the 3rd and 4th innings respectively. That’s the kind of timely hitting you need in the playoffs, especially facing a tough Colorado squad that just couldn’t find their rhythm at the plate today.

Amador gave it a solid seven, but those three runs were enough to get the job done for Dallas. The bullpen, with Leon Sanchez locking down the final two innings for the save, finished the job strong, preserving that zero on the board against a potent Avalanche lineup.

Now, with the series at 3-2 in favor of Colorado, Dallas heads back to Ball Arena in Denver for Game 6 on Monday. It’s win or go home for the Stars, and with Manny Martinez pitching like that, you have to like their chances. Colorado needs to find a way to break through Martinez’s dominance if they want to close this out at home.

So buckle up, hockey fans — this series is far from over, and it’s about to get real interesting in Denver.