Avalanche lead 1-0
Forsberg, Foote and Sakic have won two Cups with the Avs and here's hoping to the third one!
The first game of the best-of-seven series started out dynamite, as was expected for the two teams (Minnesota was the Northwest division champion and Colorado finished their season on a six-game undefeated streak). I started watching the game 12 minutes into the first period, thanks to the retarded New York New Jersey game (which sucked by the way).
The first period of the game was clearly dominated by the Wild, with their (one of the best) special teams in the league clearly dominating on the power play, though they were thankfully scoreless. It did not help that Colorado took stupid penalties (such as the holding call on a 1-on-3 in the defensive zone for Colorado).
The neutral zone game was also better for Minnesota in the first period. The tone for the series was set early, which dictated that the series would be very physical. If anyone was to save Colorado's game, it was Jose Theodore in this period.
Things changed in the second period of the game. Unlike the first period, Colorado moved the puck well and won the 'little battles'. The Avalanche were rewarded by the Sauer goal, which also set the momentum for the rest of the period by quieting the sold-out Xcel Energy Center crowd. Theodore continued his marvelous goaltending this period, also. A later goal by Ryan Smyth was also a knee-jerker for the Wild, whose #4 penalty killing in the regular season clearly did not shine.
The third period was by far the most exciting one of the hockey game, by far. Though both teams appeared calm at the start of the period, Minnesota dominated early on, getting two goals to tie the affair at 2-2. The second goal, which came on the power play, must have hurt Foote personally, who couldn't clear the puck despite two attempts to do so.
However, after the Colorado timeout, the game was very intense and physical. Backstrom and Theodore both made solid saves, with the former being aided by the crossbar and left post on two occasions. Keith Carney's attempt to smother the puck in the crease led to a penalty shot for Ryan Smyth, who blew it by not going for Backstrom's five-hole.
In overtime, Joe Sakic finished the game by scoring his 8th (9?) career overtime playoff goal, thereby passing Mauric "Rocket" Richard in the all-time list in that category. Avalanche lead the series 1-0.
Three Stars:
1. Joe Sakic
2. Jose Theodore
3. --Ryan Smyth--
* "--" indicates player was chosen arbitrarily (could be from other team).
Tags: None
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*Anaheim (4) vs Dallas (5) - I said Anaheim in 7 games; currently, Stars lead 3-1. Score: 0/3
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