"Carbonneau would indeed serve your liver with a fine chianti…but never once ran afoul of the law. Carbonneau was his gritty self and ended each shift on the bench with his teammates patting him on the back."
—Bill Nichols, Dallas Morning News

Out of the frying pan and into the fire, or in this case, the Shark Tank. Having beat one perennial playoff rival, the Stars faced another: the San Jose Sharks, hot off their upset of the President’s Trophy-winning Blues. The upset spared the Stars from facing the Conference favorite Colorado Avalanche, but the price to be paid was a grim match-up—if the Oilers were mean, the Sharks were meaner, especially the Stars’ old nemesis Bryan Marchment. "The playoffs are different now," Carbonneau told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "In the past, teams played, played tough, did everything they had to do to win, but I don’t think they went out and tried to injure people. Now, it happens in the game every day, every series."

San Jose was as vicious as expected, but for the first two games in Dallas, they succumbed to the Stars. Game 1 was a stunning 4-0 victory in which the Stars’ penalty kill unit allowed only two shots on six opportunities, and Guy won 13 of 18 faceoffs. "When you look at what they did against St. Louis, you can see they obviously have a good power play," Carbo said. "You can’t let them have chances."

Dallas shut out the Sharks again in Game 2 on a lone goal by Modano, but needed major support from the PK to do so. The Stars were so aggressive when short-handed that they got better scoring chances than the Sharks. The unit faced its biggest test the last minute of the game, when Hatcher was in the box and San Jose pulled Steve Shields from goal. Carbonneau, whom The Dallas Morning News’ Bill Nichols called "the epitome of composure," won three faceoffs to eat up half the minute, and the killers, with the assistance of a huge save by Ed Belfour, preserved the win.

Déjà vu struck in Game 3. At the Tank, with the acrimonious Sharks fans watching, the Stars were crippled by endless penalties. Although the penalty killers fared well, the offense suffered and Dallas lost 2-1. Again fearing the prospect of a return to a dangerous opponent’s building, the Stars endured a rollercoaster match in Game 4. Once again Carbonneau played a key role in giving the Stars a chance to wrap it up at home, getting a shorthanded goal on a scoring chance created when Marchment went down with a groin pull.

Even more impressive was Carbonneau’s defensive play in helping preserve Dallas’s 5-4 lead in the final minute. Early in his last shift Guy stole the puck and launched it into the San Jose zone. When the Sharks worked the puck back into Stars territory, he corralled it in the slot and carried it out toward the boards. Jeff Friesen was in hot pursuit; Carbo was unable to avoid being slammed full force into the boards and went down in a heap. Nevertheless, he managed to get up swiftly, catching up to the action in half a second. Carbonneau gauged the play so well in that brief time that he was able to put his body in the path of the next Sharks shot on goal. The puck bounced off his chest and fell at his feet; rather than icing it, Guy carried the puck out of the zone, applying the last of his strength to getting it past the red line. There he was again checked by defenseman Brad Stuart, a shoulder to the head. Carbonneau collapsed to the ice, but even this was a final defensive move: he fell on the puck and drew a whistle. He could barely get up to go to the bench, but he’d done his job…when the horn sounded, it was a Dallas victory.

Guy’s bell was so soundly wrung by the check he’d received that he had an MRI the next day. But this was not his year to fall to injury: while Marchment was out for the duration (and a short duration it would be for the Sharks), Carbonneau escaped unscathed to participate in Dallas’s triumphant 4-1 victory in Game 5 at Reunion Arena. For the series he had a goal, an assist, and was a +3.

Ten games complete. Still playing.

See also:

Diane's Playoff Diary
4/28/00 "A Tale of Two Hockey Players"
5/7/00 "Let Me Tell You About This Shift..."

Main Page '00 #1: Games 1-5 '00 #2: Games 6-10 '00 #3: Games 11-17 '00 #4: Games 18-23 '00 Epilog