FRISCO – It hardly seemed fair. Less than 36 hours after the greatest performance of his professional life ended early Monday morning, Marty Turco was being questioned about past failures.

Turco's imperial 61-save performance in the Stars' 2-1, quadruple-overtime, series-clinching victory over the San Jose Sharks was yesterday's news, the survivor of barely a single news cycle. Now on Tuesday afternoon, the surrounding scrum of microphones, mini-cams and notebooks crammed inside a practice facility locker room was more interested in the goaltender's less-than-stellar history against the Detroit Red Wings.

Turco's regular-season career record against the Red Wings is 2-10-5. His NHL record in their home, Joe Louis Arena, is a miserable 0-7-2. Interesting fodder, with the Red Wings on the horizon as the opposition in the Western Conference finals opening tonight in Detroit.

The last two times the Stars won at "The Joe," their starting goaltender had the night off. But backup goaltenders don't play in the penultimate round of the Stanley Cup playoffs unless something has gone very wrong. For the Stars, it's Turco or bust.

Forget Brenden Morrow, the pugnacious captain, Mike Modano, the golden oldie, Mike Ribeiro and Brad Richards, big-time scorers, as well as the healed Sergei Zubov's passing wizardry. No position in team sports rivals the importance of a goaltender in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Turco will have to duplicate the magic he produced in the Stars' playoff victories over the Anaheim Ducks and the Sharks if the franchise hopes to continue on Stanley Cup road.

"Maybe it's a great time for a Marty coming-out party," Stars coach Dave Tippett offered from the serenity away from the scrum.

Back inside the locker room, Turco stood his ground, patiently deflecting the inevitable questions. He didn't appear to mind talking about his struggles with the Red Wings. But he offered little introspection, preferring to dismiss questions in the politest possible manner.

"It would be one thing if they weren't a good team, but that's not the case," Turco told one questioner.

Still, Turco, the Stars' No. 1 goaltender since the departure of Ed Belfour after the 2002 season, plays against lots of good teams. He has a winning record against every team he has played at least 10 times – with the exception of the Red Wings.

But Turco has never played against the Red Wings in the playoffs, which he termed "a totally different animal."

"To say I am looking forward to this is an understatement," he said.

To date, it has been a cleansing playoff season for the 32-year-old Turco. The Stars had lost three consecutive opening-round series before beating the Ducks, the defending champions, in six games. Before his virtuoso 69-minute, three-second performance against the Sharks, he had been the losing goaltender in two of the 10 longest playoff games in NHL history, a grueling 80:48 loss to Anaheim in 2003 and a 78:06 disappointment last season against the Vancouver Canucks.

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Stars goalie Marty Turco has a winning record against every team he has played at least 10 times - with the exception of the Detroit Red Wings.

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That was all forgotten as he fought fatigue and an aching back with an IV drip between periods against the Sharks. He was reminded, however, about the thin line between winning and losing in sudden-death overtime.

"I remember one shot," Turco said. "I said, 'Holy crap' to myself. ... It was from mid-height level. ... Then it just hit a stick and went 2 inches past the crossbar."

And so, Turco returns to the haunting Joe, the NHL arena closest to his hometown of Sault St. Marie, Ontario, that once upon a time had been a safe haven.

In his college goaltending days, when his teams advanced to the Frozen Four and won NCAA championships in the late 1990s just down the road at the University of Michigan, the Joe was a nurturing home away from home.

His winless streak there didn't begin until Jan. 12, 2002, when then-Stars coach Ken Hitchcock took the unusual approach of benching Belfour, the starter, against the league-leading Red Wings in favor of Turco.

The Stars lost, 5-2, and Turco admitted afterward that he had been a "little too excited."

"He got off in a bad way," said Stars television and radio analyst Daryl Reaugh, a former NHL goaltender. "That day didn't go well, and ever since then, it has mounted. ... You know, maybe you can try too hard."

Andy Moog, the Stars' goaltending coach and a Cup winning goalie for the Edmonton Oilers, believes in the "try too hard" theory.

"The games are too important for him there," Moog said. "I think he has worked hard trying to control his emotions."

Moog hasn't talked to Turco lately about his Detroit demons.

"It's time for him to play," Moog said.

In contrast to the taciturn Belfour, a relative loner who led the Stars to the 1999 Stanley Cup title, Turco has always tried to fit in with teammates and be one of the guys. He began to reinvent himself in January. He promised a determined effort to distance himself from teammates' activities and to concentrate on the relatively lonely goaltender preparation regimen.

Perhaps it is only coincidental that he has been brilliant in his last three playoff series. In last season's opening-round loss to Vancouver, he posted three shutouts, but the Stars lost the series, four games to three.

"We are seeing a new Marty," Ribeiro said. "He's sharper and more mature."

As you might expect, Turco's teammates are exuding nothing but confidence in their goaltender.

Said Modano of Turco's lack of success against the Red Wings: "I am sure Marty will use it as a motivator to change everybody's opinion about him vs. Detroit."

Said Morrow: "The net is the same size. The rink is the same shape. His job is always the same – to focus on the pucks and make the saves. ... As much as he believes in himself, he's got us believing in him. We're riding pretty high on him right now."

No one will stir the pot in Detroit, where the Red Wings are saying all the right things.

"We're playing right now, and that's what matters," said Chris Osgood, the Red Wings goaltender who has posted a 27-10-3 record against the Stars.

Turco said he won't be playing any mind games once the series begins.

"I'm not trying to erase any memories of playing against these guys at Joe Louis at all," he said. "I'm here to win this series, to win the next game and, from a focus level, to make that next save. That's for me, and pretty much all goalies, the approach you need to have and look forward to it."