Consider Derian Hatcher's confidence fully restored.

Whether the veteran defenseman and captain would ever regain that confidence had been one of the biggest question marks surrounding the Stars only a week ago. What a difference three games make.

Hatcher, much maligned for his play in the first two games of Dallas' Western Conference semifinal series with the Edmonton Oilers, turned in a dominant performance in the Stars' series-clinching, 2-1 victory Saturday night in Game 5.

When Hatcher wasn't staking the Stars to a 1-0 lead with a nifty goal with just 4.7 seconds remaining in the first period, he was delivering four bone-crushing hits and keying the Stars’ penalty-killing unit.

"I was really run down out there early in the series," said Hatcher, who took a critical penalty in the Stars’ Game 2 loss at Reunion Arena last week. "It might have just been in my head, but the last three games, I've really felt comfortable."

And looked it. Game 5 was merely a continuation of Hatcher's outstanding performance in Game 4 in Edmonton, when he earned an assist on Benoit Hogue's game-winning goal and was on the ice for each of the Stars' goals in a 3-1 victory.

"It was just a matter of simplifying my game," Hatcher said. "I wasn't doing a lot out there, and Hitch [Stars coach Ken Hitchcock] let me know it. But getting back to basics allowed me to regain my confidence."

Hatcher's lull had dated to the third game of the Stars' first- round elimination of San Jose, and he wasn't able to lift it until the second-round series shifted to Edmonton this week. Before then, he had been known mostly for his 27-playoff penalty minutes and a series of costly turnovers.

But Hatcher looked anything but lifeless Saturday, particularly on his first-period goal against Curtis Joseph off an assist from Mike Modano that broke a tense, scoreless tie.

"I knew he [Modano] saw me, because he sees everything on the ice, " Hatcher said. "He was doing his thing out there, so I just kept going toward the goal. I tried to be patient with it."

Hatcher's newfound patience wasn't lost on his veteran teammates, who heartily endorsed his approach.

"He needed to learn that you have to forget about your mistakes and just move on," Stars center Guy Carbonneau said. "He's playing with a lot of confidence right now, and that's nice to see."

That confidence isn't just on offense, either. Hatcher was a defensive force Saturday, nearly matching in one night his hit total for the first four games against Edmonton. He had six hits coming in but added four in a bruising 25 minutes of ice time.

© 1998 The Dallas Morning News All Rights Reserved

Bart Hubbuch / Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News, Hatcher delivers in crunch: Defenseman steps up with goal, 4 hard hits., The Dallas Morning News, 05-17-1998, pp 18B.