No. 1 star: Marty Turco, Dallas Stars
So Turco can win at Joe Louis Arena. No doubt that knowledge will come in handy if the Stars can force a Game 7 back in Detroit with a victory in Dallas on Monday. Saturday's first star goes as much to Turco the third defenseman as Turco the goalie, though both were outstanding in Game 5. Never one to shy away from leaving his crease, Turco initiated Dallas' first scoring rush by playing the puck to Niklas Hagman, who in turn banked a brilliant pass off the boards that sprung Brad Richards. No assist there for Turco, but his aggressiveness turned what could have been a partial Detroit break into a Dallas goal. The Stars' goalie later earned the primary assist on the game-winning goal when his attempted clearing pass bounced fortuitously off a Detroit stick and hit Joel Lundqvist in stride. Back in the relative safety of his crease, Turco made 38 saves, few better than an early gem against Dan Cleary that preserved the Stars' chances to score first.

No. 2 star: Joel Lundqvist, Dallas Stars
That new checking line from Game 4 worked out pretty well in Game 5. Dallas coach Dave Tippett started Loui Eriksson, Toby Peterson and Lundqvist on Saturday and the Stars did their best to work the matchup against Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk line. The Henrik Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Tomas Holmstrom line didn't register a point despite 14 shots on goal and Lundqvist's first goal since the opening round held up as the game-winner. That's a checker's dream.

No. 3 star: Jiri Hudler, Detroit Red Wings
The post-game consensus seemed to be that the Red Wings came out flat in Game 5. It wasn't Detroit's best effort, but the home team did outshoot the Stars 39-21, they held their own in the physical battles (hits were 21-20 in Dallas' favor) and the Red Wings manhandled the Stars in the faceoff circle, winning 41 of 61 draws. For all the criticism they'll face for letting Dallas back in this series, the Red Wings were two crisp line changes away from winning 1-0. The game-winning goal would have belonged to Hudler, who scored on Turco's doorstep on a nice second-effort play that tied the game 1-1 in the opening period.

Major penalty: Chris Chelios is going to play forever. Cheli's conditioning regimen is legendary, but perhaps another reason for his longevity is a strict adherence to short shifts. How else do you explain Chelios' decision to abandon defense partner Brett Lebda for a line change on Dallas' game-winning goal. Chelios had signaled for the change before Dallas gained possession of the puck, but it was an agonizingly slow process and replays seemed to indicate Chelios had time to abandon the effort when Marty Turco's pass fluttered in the air toward center ice. Instead he detoured to the bench – getting tied up with a Dallas player along the boards didn't help – and left Lebda to fend for himself on the 2-on-1 that led to Lundqvist's goal. Poor line changes played a role in both opposition goals Saturday.

Minor penalty: Despite a pre-game vow to make life miserable on Dallas goalie Turco, it sure seemed like Tomas Holmstrom's buttocks was conspicuously absent Saturday. Turco did face 39 shots in Game 5, but the traffic wasn't there as it had been previously in this series. Maybe that phantom call played a role (Dallas' ability to stay out of the penalty box was definately a factor). Maybe Homer was just off his game. He certainly came out looking like a horse's behind when he took a foolish roughing penalty that forced the Wings to play one-quarter of the final eight minutes short handed. Holmstrom had just absorbed a big hit when he decided to take a whack at a player on the Stars bench on his way off the ice. No doubt there was some chirping from the Dallas side, but that was no time for retribution.

Conn Smythe watch

1. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
2. Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
3. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
4. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
5. Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
6. Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings
7. Marty Turco, Dallas Stars
8. Brenden Morrow, Dallas Stars
9. Johan Franzen, Detroit Red Wings
10. Daniel Briere, Philadelphia Flyers

Related: 3 Stars