KRIEGER: Credit average Joes for Avalanche victory

By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 10, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Avs captain Joe Sakic got a single shot on goal Wednesday night. It came in overtime. It won the game.

Sakic's uncanny ability to score the big goal - his eight career playoff overtime goals are an NHL record - will be the headline and the highlight from the first game of hockey's second season because nothing beats his brand of clutch play for sporting drama.

"I don't know how Joe always finds ways to score big goals," Avalanche general manager Francois Giguere said in wonder. "That's been his MO ever since he's been with our organization. Hopefully, he has a few more in him."

But Sakic's game-winner disguised the story of the Avs' victory in Game 1. It was not about their big names. Sakic's paucity of scoring chances in the first 71 minutes was nearly matched by Peter Forsberg, Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk, each of whom had a single shot on goal all night.

Prior to the winner, the heroes Wednesday night were defenseman Kurt Sauer, whose second-period goal matched his total in 102 regular-season games during the past two seasons, and Jeff Finger, who registered 11 assists in 72 games before setting up Ryan Smyth's deflection on a second-period one-timer from the point.

"And I thought that Ruslan Salei had a great game," Giguere said. "He made the shot out of the point on the winning goal and he had a big hit early in the game. I think that's what a team is. You expect the 20 guys to contribute in some ways, and I think tonight we had a lot of guys that helped."

It is a cliche, of course, mind-numbingly repeated, about the 20 guys all contributing. But it is repeated for a reason: It's true.

The Avs' volume shooters in Game 1 were Smyth, relegated to the third line after signing a big free-agent contract, and linemates Tyler Arnason and David Jones, who combined for 11 shots on goal.

Smyth's signs of life were particularly encouraging, even if Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom stoned him on a third-period penalty shot. If you've kept track of the Avs' shootout selections, you know this is not the power forward's forte.

But Smyth played with the sort of desperate energy the Avs had hoped to see more of during a regular season marred by a pair of debilitating injuries and a general malaise that followed them.

Wild coach Jacques Lemaire often thwarts marquee stars. He is a master of the matchup. Sakic, Forsberg and Stastny were crowded and hurried all night. In fact, Lemaire blamed a rare defensive mistake for Sakic's winner, a failure to rotate to cover the front of the net when a defenseman advances to check farther out in front.

"We talked about this very thing," Lemaire said. "Mistakes like this, you make as a team. They nearly get a goal every time you make a mistake. If they don't, they get really close. So you really have to be focused on every detail."

It is only when other players become threats that a Sakic or Forsberg might come free long enough to make a difference. In Game 1, the Avs got contributions up and down the roster despite a host of factors working against them.

For one thing, they were playing in St. Paul, where the Wild had scored the first goal in all four of their regular-season contests, forcing the Avs to play catch-up against a team that retreats into an impenetrable shell when it gets a lead. The Avs lost every one of those regular-season matchups here.

In addition, the calls went mostly against the visitors in Game 1. Any team can complain about certain calls any night, but the Avs were called for six penalties to the Wild's two Wednesday night despite the fact the Wild made the majority of the hits. An apparent goal by Jones was disallowed - he kicked it in - after an apparent cross-check left him on his stomach in the crease.

In any case, the Avs survived the imbalance in both penalties and shots on goal (30-22), thanks to a disciplined, defensive game plan that kept Minnesota off the scoreboard early despite the energy and jump it got from its lively home crowd.

For the time being, the home-ice advantage has shifted to Colorado. Stealing Game 1 on the road puts the Wild on the defensive.

"It's always important, but it's going to be a hard-fought series, and I think tonight proved it," Giguere said. "We had a 2-0 lead, and they came back.

"There's no quit in them, and I think next game is going to be even tougher. We're going to have to be ready."

It was just one game. The twists and turns have just begun. If the Avs hope to get past Lemaire's Wild, they will have to keep getting production up and down the roster.

kriegerd@RockyMountainNews.com

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