Whoever said the Avalanche play best with their backs against the
wall wasn't paying attention. True, down 2-1 after two commanding
victories by Dallas, they rallied to win two and take the series
lead. But the Avalanche have been far from flawless; ironically, in
their botched loss that sends the series to a Game Seven, they
often looked better than in the previous two wins.
Defense has often been an afterthought for Colorado this series.
Adam Foote, Aaron Miller and Sylvain Lefebvre have had to do it
all, and it's wearing them down - they're obviously tired, and all
three made some hideous mistakes in the first two losses. The
normally smart and careful Alexei Gusarov has been sloppy. At
times, Sandis Ozolinsh has been the best DEFENSIVE defenseman out
there. That's scary.
Not helping matters is the slumps of some key personnel. Theo Fleury
has yet to pick up a goal in this series. Joe Sakic has one. Solid
performances by Chris Drury, Valeri Kamensky and Adam Deadmarsh have
been great, but the stars need to be stars.
If the Avalanche could ever play with a full lineup . when Stephane
Yelle and Gusarov came back, Kamensky and Milan Hejduk went down.
When Kamensky came back, Fleury went down. The result? If everyone
was healthy, the Avs would have a fourth line that could log
significant ice time. As it is, Bob Hartley doesn't have enough
faith in the fourth line to put it out much, and Sakic and Peter
Forsberg are exhausted. It's at least improved - Dale Hunter, Jon
Klemm and Shean Donovan is far better than the Hunter/Jeff
Odgers/Warren Rychel combo - but if Hejduk hadn't gone down, Yelle
could move to the fourth line, doubling its talent.
Ah, yes, Hejduk. The rookie star went down in Game Four when Richard
Matvichuk - who is rapidly taking on an "Agent of Satan" pose a la
Detroit's Kirk Maltby -- checked him into the boards. Hejduk fell
awkwardly, broke his collarbone, and that's it for the Czech's hot
playoffs. Matvichuk drew plenty of ire for that hit in the Denver
press, but it wasn't that dirty, more unfortunate. What was dirty
was his hit later in the game on Peter Forsberg, another check into
the boards.
Without Hejduk, the Avs turned to Rookie #2. Chris Drury started
slowly in the playoffs, but has come on strong since the Detroit
series. After the Avs scored two goals in the first couple minutes,
they sat on the lead for the rest of the game. Didn't work. The
Stars gutted their way back into it, tying in early in the third.
Fortunately, Brett Hull's tying goal woke the Avs up. For the rest
of the game they were flying, and in overtime, never really gave
the Stars a chance to get into it. When Drury took a beautiful
Ozolinsh pass and put it home, it seemed almost preordained.
The next game was the polar opposite of the tight checking of Game
Four. I'd try to recap all the lead changes and momentum shifts,
but it's all foggy now. Suffice to say: Kamensky scored a couple
goals; Deadmarsh did too; Peter Forsberg was astounding; the
goalies were not astounding; and Drury picked up his second
straight game winner, doing the dirty work and crashing the net. It
was Drury's fourth game-winner of the playoffs, tying the rookie
record set by Avalanche teammate Claude Lemieux.
And the Avs started strong in Game Six, too, looking to end the
series there. Unfortunately, the team was obviously exhausted, and
after the first period, the Stars dominated, and after the Stars
went up 2-1 early in the third, the Avs came completely unglued and
played sloppy, not-all-there hockey.
So, it's Game Seven, in Dallas, to decide who faces the Sabres. Not
what the Avalanche wanted.
Concentrating on the positives:
* Peter Forsberg has been the best player in the world during this
series. He's turned it up a notch or three, and his poor play early
in the Detroit series is a distant memory.
* Shjon Podein and Stephane Yelle are inspiring. The penalty-killing
duo is scrappy, fearless and always at the top of their game.
* Kamensky again came back from an injury and shone. If the
Avalanche are smart, they'll find a way to give him some minor injury
between now and Game Seven.
