The Avalanche beat the Minnesota wild 3-2 in an overtime thriller Wednesday night.
The Avalanche played 60 hard-fought minutes on Wednesday, but it took an additional 10 minutes and 49 seconds to defeat the Wild. Colorado had a plethora of opportunities to put the game away late in the third period, but timely goal play and unfortunate breaks for the Avalanche caused the game to go to overtime. In the third period, the Avalanche had shots off the post, crossbar, and a penalty shot, but they just could not capitalize. Ryan Smyth had a penalty shot when a Minnesota defenseman touched the puck while it was in the crease causing the play to be ruled dead. Smyth put a good move on Wild netkeeper Niklas Backstrom, but Backstrom flailed his right leg out and deflected the shot wide, forcing the game into overtime. That is where Avalanche captain and soon to be hall of famer, Joe Sakic took over. “Super Joe” put a saved Ruslan Salei shot into the back of the net. It was Sakic’s eighth career playoff overtime winner; Sakic has only 7 career overtime winners in the regular season. That is why Sakic is considered by many to be one of the best 5 centers to ever play the game of hockey.
The Avalanche can take a lot of things from this game, one thing being that goalie Jose Theodore is the real deal. Theodore made many upon many crucial saves to help propel the Avalanche to victory. The Avalanche also were shown that the “Old Avalanche” of Joe Sakic, Adam Foote, and Peter Forsberg are healthy and can play huge minutes.
Game 2 of this heated series will take place on Friday, April 11 at 7:00. Look for the same type of tough nose play and physicality that game 1 brought to be transferred into Friday’s game.
The Avalanche are a completely different team then they were at the beginning of this year. For starters, they have added two new starters to the mix. Their new front line includes Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, and Milan Hejduk with Scott Hannan and John Michael-Liles playing defense. Jose Theodore is manning the net, originally Peter Budaj opened up the season. Peter Forsberg is the other new face in the starting lineup, and if you are a true Avalanche fan, then you are very much accustomed to Forsberg. “Peter the Great,” as he is called, is one of the best Avalanche players of all time. He helped lead the club to their only two Stanley Cups (1996 & 2001) and will always be remembered for his imagination and creativity on the ice. Though Forsberg has slowed down a bit due to injuries and old age, he can still help the Avs greatly with his knack for scoring and intangibles. And who can forget the Avalanche’s captain, Joe Sakic. “Super Joe” is back in action after being hurt for the majority of this season. He is now healthy at the right time, and will be much needed to score against the stingy Wild defense.
Another new face in an old place is defenseman Adam Foote. Foote is a hard nose defenseman who brings his physicality to the table every night. Foote can lock down any forward and put fear into all opponents. Foote was also a huge factor in both Avalanche Stanley Cup Victories.
If the opponents can stop Forsberg and Sakic, and get by Foote, then they have one more obstacle to get by, and that is goalie Jose Theodore. Theodore, the 2001 NHL MVP has gotten hot, and has superseded goalie Peter Budaj for the starting spot. Theodore is an amazing athlete, and has made many acrobatic saves this year. Theodore has the ability to keep the Avalanche in every single game with his superb goal play.
The Avalanche and the Wild have never liked each other, and Saturday’s regular season finale just added fuel to the fire. Avalanche forward Ian Laperriere checked Wild star Marian Gaborik hard, creating a scuffle between the two teams. The unspoken rule in the NHL is you mess with our star, then we are going to mess with yours. So expect Laperriere to be the victim of a few dirty shots this series, as this little feud may lead to an intense and exciting 7 game series.
That being said, the regular season is over, and it is time to move on and worry only about the playoffs. The regular season stats and records don’t mean anything right now. I expect the Avalanche to take their series in six games; I would not be shocked however, to see the game be decided in the seventh and final game.
2. Fri, Apr 11 – at Minnesota, 9:00 pm EDT (VS.)
3. Mon, Apr 14 – at Colorado, 10:00 pm EDT (VS.)
4. Tue, Apr 15 – at Colorado, 10:00 pm EDT (VS.)
5.* Thu, Apr 17 – at Minnesota, 9:00 pm EDT
6.* Sat, Apr 19 – at Colorado (VS.)
7.* Tue, Apr 22 – at Minnesota
* = if necessary
