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Avs thank unlucky Stars

Shot off skate in overtime gives Colorado 3-0 lead against Dallas

Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 27, 2006 at midnight

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Second verse, same as the first.

Or something like that.

For the second game in a row, the Colorado Avalanche used a late third-period goal to get to overtime before putting away the Dallas Stars.

Andrew Brunette scored with 56.4 seconds left in regulation Wednesday night during a six-on-four power play and Alex Tanguay was credited with the decisive goal at 1 minute, 9 seconds of the extra period when his pass for Ian Laperriere hit Stars defenseman Willie Mitchell's skate and ricocheted between goalie Marty Turco's legs.

The fortunate bounce gave the Avalanche a 4-3 victory at the Pepsi Center and a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series.

The Avalanche can clinch the series here Friday.

"It's a huge win for us," captain Joe Sakic said. "(Being ahead) 3-0 is obviously a lot different than 2-1 so, hopefully, we can find a way to keep this going. They're too good of a team; you don't want to give them any life."

Only two teams in NHL history have won a series after losing the first three games: the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1975 New York Islanders.

The Stars had a 3-2 lead and were at the end of a power play with 1:45 remaining in the third period when Brenden Morrow tripped Avalanche defenseman Brett Clark.

Once a brief four-on-four situation ended, the Avalanche went on its power play and pulled goalie Jose Theodore for an extra skater with 1:22 to go.

It didn't take much longer for the Avalanche to tie the score. Brunette was to Turco's right when he accepted a pass from Tanguay and slipped it inside the near post.

" 'Tangs' was trying to make a backdoor pass and it just landed right on my tape," Brunette said. "It was nothing special. It was a little good fortune, but when we do the little things right, we're a good hockey team."

The good luck continued in the overtime.

Tanguay was near the left corner, behind the Stars net, when he slid the puck in front for Laperriere stationed outside the crease.

Laperriere never got his stick on the puck, but he didn't need to. Mitchell did the work for him.

"I was just looking to give (Laperriere) the puck," Tanguay said. "He was looking at me. I guess it went off the 'D' and went 5-hole.

"It was very lucky. Sometimes in the playoffs you need a break, and I felt like we certainly got a lot of breaks. We were very fortunate.

"They're a very good hockey team and it could easily be 2-1 (in the series) the other way, but we're getting the bounces right now. We're skating well, and for us to be successful, we have to keep working hard."

Laperriere never has scored an overtime goal in the playoffs, and he doesn't mind that he's still looking for the first one.

"It was close, but it hit the defenseman's skate and went in," he said. "But you know what? This team's all about winning. Nobody cares who's scoring as long as we win."

The Stars erased 1-0 and 2-1 deficits and took their first lead of the game with 14.3 seconds left in the second period on a goal by defenseman Sergei Zubov during a five-on-three power play.

Tanguay was in the penalty box for hooking when Milan Hejduk was sent off for hooking Zubov at the Avalanche blue line, giving Dallas a two-man advantage for 68 seconds.

The Stars didn't need that much time. Zubov took a slap shot from the right point that beat goalie Jose Theodore to the far side.

Dallas began the third period with a five-on-four power play with 1:03 still left on Hejduk's penalty, but the Avalanche killed it off.

The Stars also got a second-period goal from Jon Klemm, a former Avalanche defenseman, at 8:44 off a pass from Jere Lehtinen.

Klemm, who registered four goals in 76 regular-season games, beat Theodore with a screen shot from above the left hash marks. Dallas' Morrow and the Avalanche's Clark were fighting for position in front of the net and impeded Theodore's vision.

The Avalanche took a 2-1 lead in the first period, with Tanguay scoring the go-ahead goal with 1:07 remaining for his initial point of the series.

Sakic started the scoring at 5:21 with his 80th career playoff goal, moving him past Jean Beliveau into an eighth-place tie with Claude Lemieux on the all-time list.

The goal came on a power play after Patrice Brisebois passed to Clark at the top of the faceoff circles for a shot that Turco stopped. But Turco couldn't control the bouncing rebound and was sprawled on his back when Sakic knocked the puck into the net.

But the Stars tied the score on Stu Barnes' short-handed goal at 10:49 on their first shot - shortly after Turco made a big stop against defenseman John-Michael Liles from point-blank range.

It came on a two-on-one rush with Morrow, who passed across to

Barnes cutting the net on the right side for a shot that went under Theodore's left arm.

The Avalanche went ahead when rookie Wojtek Wolski forced a turnover near the Dallas blue line. Hejduk gained possession and slid a hard pass that Tanguay redirected into the net.

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