By Jordan Long
On this date in sports history, the most controversial goal in the history of the Stanley Cup Final occurred. The matchup was the Buffalo Sabers playing the Dallas Stars.
Buffalo managed a record of 37 wins, 28 losses, and 17 ties for a total of 91 points, 4th in the Northeast Division. They made the postseason as the 7th seed. They weren’t expected to do much in the playoffs. Buffalo swept the Ottawa Senators in the 1st-round. In the 2nd-round they got past the Boston Bruins in 6 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs were no match for them in the Eastern Conference Finals as they beat them in 5 games to reach the Stanley Cup Final.
For the Dallas Stars, they won the President’s Trophy for having the league’s top record finishing with 51 wins, 19 losses, and 12 ties for a total of 114 points. In the playoffs, Dallas swept Edmonton in the 1st-round. In the 2nd-round the Stars knocked off the St. Louis Blues in 6 games. In the Western Conference Finals, they barely got past the Colorado Avalanche in 7 games.
In the Stanley Cup Final, Buffalo took game 1 in overtime 3-2. Dallas responded with a victory in game 2, 4-2. Dallas won game 3, 2-1. Game 4, Buffalo tied the series up, winning the game 2-1. Dallas retook the series lead with a 2-0 shutout in game 5. This meant Dallas had a chance to wrap up the Stanley Cup in game 6.
In game 6, the goaltender matchup was the same as the previous 5 games. The Sabers went with their Hall of Fame Goaltender, Dominik Hašek. Hasek was their key to forcing a game 7. For the Stars, in net was Ed Belfour. Both of them were confident they could make the saves to earn the win for their respective teams.
It was a tight game all a round with both teams having scoring chances but the goaltenders stood tall. In the 1st-period Dallas drew first blood with 8:09 gone in the period when Jere Lehtinen beat Hasek. The Sabers tied the game with 1 minute and 39 seconds left in the 2nd period. Neither team scored in the third period and the game headed into overtime.
In the first overtime period, both teams had opportunities to end the game but didn’t. It went to a second overtime where again both goaltenders didn’t allow a goal. Finally, with 5 minutes and 9 seconds left in triple overtime, Brett Hull found a rebound to put it past Hasek to give the Stars their first Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history.
The problem with the goal was Hull’s skate was in the crease. Skaters who were attacking the goal couldn’t have their skate in the goal crease. According to bleacherreport.com, the rule stated “ Unless the puck is in the goal crease area, a player of the attacking side may not stand in the goal crease. If a player has entered the crease prior to the puck, and subsequently the puck should enter the net while such conditions prevail, the apparent goal shall not be allowed.” It looked like Hull violated the rule but the NHL didn’t go to replay to have it looked at. The goal counted and the Stars won the Cup. At the start of the 1999-2000 season, the NHL removed this rule.
Hasek wasn’t able to keep his team alive but made an impressive 48 saves on 50 shots. On the other side, Belfour stopped 53 pucks on 54 shots.
To this day, it remains the Sabers only trip to the Stanley Cup Final. For the Stars, they advanced to the Final the next year but were beaten out by the New Jersey Devils in 6 games. Today though we remember Hull’s goal that maybe shouldn’t have counted to end the 1999 Stanley Cup Final.
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