Scoring: none

Penalties: Modano, Dal. (tripping), 5:49; Hagman, Dal. (hooking), 8:09; Roenick, S.J. (hooking), 12:09; Niskanen, Dal. (slashing), 16:39.

Replay: No scoring

Energy crisis: All that pent-up elimination game desperation disappeared early for the Sharks. Three of their shots came in the first six minutes, with their best chances coming early. Stars goaltender Marty Turco denied Mike Grier's redirection and forced Patrick Marleau into shooting wide at the net. Later in the period, the Sharks had trouble even getting out of their own zone, committing 11 giveaways.

Not in the box score: Even with Stu Barnes sidelined by a hard hit from Jonathan Cheechoo, the Stars' penalty killers continued to dominate. Just like Game 3, the Sharks received three power plays in the first 20 minutes. Just like Game 3, they did nothing with them, managing just one shot. The Stars have killed 19 of the last 20 power plays by opponents.

San Jose: 4 shots, 0 goals

Dallas: 7 shots, 0 goals

Scoring: 1, Dallas, Lehtinen 3 (unassisted), 5:25. 2, San Jose, Marleau 4 (unassisted), 9:19 (sh).

Penalties: Clowe, S.J. (interference), 8:32; Clowe, S.J. (elbowing), 13:22; Lundqvist, Dal. (tripping), 17:32.

Replay: The Stars struck first off of a San Jose defensive zone turnover. Under pressure by Brenden Morrow, Devin Setoguchi's attempted clearing pass went directly to Jere Lehtinen, who converted from the slot. For the second consecutive game, San Jose captain Patrick Marleau turned a blue-line turnover by Stars defenseman Sergei Zubov into a short-handed goal. Zubov's pass intended for Mike Modano at the left point never made it. Marleau steamed up ice and beat Marty Turco with a wrist shot off the pads.

Broken stick creates chaos: The Stars had a good opportunity to regain the lead after Patrick Marleau's goal. Milan Michalek broke his stick, creating all kinds of problems for the Sharks. The Stars got a few chances, but the play was finally stopped as bodies went flying into the crease and Evgeni Nabokov covered the puck.

Not in the box score: The fatigue factor became evident. The two teams were playing their second consecutive game and third in four days. The skating became more labored and puck-handling and defensive mistakes more prominent.

San Jose: 11 shots; 1 goal

Dallas: 6 shots, 0 goals

Scoring: 3. San Jose, Michalek 3 (Thornton, Campbell), 3:26 (pp).

Penalties: Modano, Dal. (delay of game), 2:41; Eriksson, Dal. (slashing), 13:01.

Replay: San Jose took advantage of a delay-of-game penalty against Mike Modano to take the lead. Milan Michalek got position on Stars defenseman Nicklas Grossman, and converted a goal-mouth feed from Joe Thornton.

Block party: San Jose's experience with blocked shots had been mixed, at best, in the series. Patrick Marleau had jumped over a Mike Modano power-play goal early in the series and then Jeremy Roenick inadvertently deflected a Mattias Norstrom shot into his own net in Game 4. But the Sharks did a much better job, preventing the puck from reaching goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

Not in the box score: Somehow, the Sharks found a second wind to begin the period and swarmed the Stars' net. Without several key saves by Marty Turco, it could have been far more lopsided.

San Jose: 9 shots, 1 goal

Dallas: 5 shots, 0 goals

What happened: The goalies are proving to be worthy warriors in this battle, as Turco continued to shine and Nabokov played his second solid game in a row. Turco had the more spectacular saves as he was big early in the game and then huge on a couple of in-close plays. Nabokov proved solid in the third period.

The edge: Nabokov gets the edge in this one for taking the win and for withstanding a furious Stars rally in the final three minutes.

Mike Heika

Selected by Staff Writer Mike Heika:

1. Patrick Marleau, Sharks He had energy and created scoring chances. His short-handed goal changed the game.

2. Evgeni Nabokov, Sharks: Only 17 saves, but he was big when he needed to be.

3. Marty Turco, Stars: Gave the Stars every chance to tie the score late.

3: Goals in the series for San Jose left wing Milan Michalek, who scored the game-winner on a third-period power play.

8: Hits for Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas.

25:20: Minutes for Stars captain Brenden Morrow, a team-high while playing in the second game of a back-to-back.