Spurs Split Games 4 & 5

(AP) Denver, CO

The Spurs took Gm 4 of the opening Jazz Conference playoff series in Portland and when they returned home with the chance to put the series away, lost Gm 5 on home ice. Go figure these Spurs.
They took Gm 4 over the Owls and goalie Martin Gerber 5-2 with 3 unanswered tallies in the 3rd period enroute to the win. They actually scored 4 unanswered goals after the Owls took a 2-1 lead at 6:19 of the 2nd period. The Owls tallies were netted by Glen Murray (3) and Dumont (3).
Lighting the lamp for the Spurs were Smyth (2,3), Hossa (1), Lecavalier (2) and Tkachuk (5).
Gerber stopped 42 of 47 (.894) shots while Brodeur stopped 22 of 24 (.917).
Game 5 at the Coliseum in Denver saw the Portland Owls facing elimination. In a wild back and forth contest they came out on top 5-4! Goals were scored in every period by both clubs with each netting 2 a piece in the 3rd period. The Spurs penalty killing units went asleep again as the Owls hit on 3 of 7 man advantage opportunities. The last two coming in the 3rd period to tie and win the game! Both coming while Ian Laperriere was serving a 5 minute major and was not available for penalty killing duty. It appears that Craig Adams may not be able to pick it up in Lappy's absence.
Scoring for the Owls were Lang (1), Dumont (4,5) - left pic, Kozlov (2) and Vanek (2).
Denting the twine for the Spurs were Sakic (2), Lecavalier (3,4) and Selanne (2).
Nik Backstrom (right pic), back from his injury, stopped an impressive 52 of 56 shots (.929) in helping the Owls stave off elimination.
His counterpart, Marty Brodeur of the Spurs, stopped 22 of 27 (.815) in the loss.
Noticing a pattern with Brodeur?
Dasher Notes
The Owls had some bad news during the contest when winger Glen Murray went down with what looked like a possible high ankle sprain when he went hard into the boards behind the Spurs net. Word is that he could be out for an extended period. No penalty on the play on what was deemed a legal check by the refs. The Owls, of course, are not too happy with Spurs blueliner Bryan McCabe.
Game 6 is in Portland next with the Spurs leading 3 games to 2. Can the Owls stave off elimination again and send the game back to Denver for a game 7? Stay tuned!