Colorado thankful for Theodore

Avalanche goes ahead 3-2 despite big shot disparity

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 17, 2008 at 9:33 p.m.
Updated April 18, 2008 at 12:50 a.m.

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Photo by Scott A. Schneider / Getty Images

The Avalanche's Peter Forsberg and Minnesota's Todd Fedoruk collide during Colorado's 3-2 victory in Game 5 on Thursday in St. Paul, Minn. Forsberg had assists on two Avalanche goals.

Photo by Tom Olmscheid / Associated Press

Avalanche goalie Jose Theodore makes one of his 38 saves Thursday as Adam Foote tries to hold off Minnesota's Todd Fedoruk during Colorado's 3-2 win in Game 5.

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For two periods, the Avalanche played hockey's version of rope-a-dope, allowing goalie Jose Theodore to absorb blow after blow while doing little of consequence in the offensive end of the rink.

Thanks to Theodore, and two quick goals in the third period, the Avalanche escaped the Xcel Energy Center with a 3-2 win against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night to grab a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series.

The Avalanche is in position to clinch the series Saturday night at the Pepsi Center and move on to the second round.

"We should feel very fortunate. Great's not even good enough to explain how well he played for us," coach Joel Quenneville said of Theodore.

If it was possible to award three stars of the game to one player, all would have gone to Theodore, who kept the game in a 1-1 tie through two periods even as the Avalanche was getting outshot 32-14.

The final count was 40-17.

"It was all Jose, a spectacular performance, the only reason why we had a chance to be in the game going into the third period," Quenneville said. "They came at us extremely hard the first period, and the second period was even more one-sided.

"Coming out of it tied going into the third was almost like a win."

Just as remarkable, the Avalanche only needed three shots to score two goals in the final period against Niklas Backstrom.

Wojtek Wolski put the Avalanche ahead when he one-timed defenseman John-Michael Liles' pass between Backstrom's pads at 5:06 with 4 seconds left on a power play.

Snakebitten Paul Stastny, the Avalanche's top scorer in the regular season, finally connected for his first goal of the series 1:19 later. Stastny had his back to the net when he accepted a pass from Milan Hejduk and back-handed it past Backstrom for a two-goal advantage.

"I think it's relief, but at the same time a two-goal cushion . . . it's a lot more calm on the bench when you can play a lot more simpler with a two-goal lead," Stastny said. "They were all over us the whole game. If it wasn't for 'Theo,' we wouldn't get the 'W' there. He stood on his head.

"We can't rely on him all the time to do that, but, obviously, he stole us a win there."

Stastny's goal turned out to be the winner because the Wild's Brian Rolston - he had a game- high eight shots - scored with 2.5 seconds to play with Backstrom on the bench for an extra skater.

"Certainly everybody who's a scorer feeds off production, and Paul is one of those players that registers points," Quenneville said. "He was a big part of our offense and he'd like to score, like all top guys.

"But Paul's one of those guys that does a lot of things that don't get recognized, that make him a really effective player. I thought on both sides (of the rink) he was a really effective player. It was nice to see him get the goal. He'll probably be a little more patient with the puck in the scoring area going forward."

While Stastny was getting off the schneid, Wild star Marian Gaborik remained pointless in the series, though he had four more shots Thursday and was dangerous throughout.

Gaborik's best chance came at the 8:50 mark of the second period when he tried to flip the puck by Theodore while stationed near the right post. But Theodore stymied him with a quick flick of his left pad.

"He's squeezing the stick a little tight," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "It doesn't take long before you are feeling the pressure."

The Avalanche was feeling plenty of pressure for two periods, when the rink seemed to be slanted in Theodore's direction, but played smart in the third after taking the lead.

"I just try to make every save," Theodore said. "They're a great team, so I'm going to have to be ready for the next one. They're going to come as hard, I'm sure. They're a hard-working team and we're going to have to be ready as a team."

One thing the Avalanche has managed to do in this series is score first. It happened for the fifth consecutive game, courtesy of Andrew Brunette, who opened the scoring with a first-period goal for the third game in a row.

Brunette was parked near the edge of the crease on a power play when Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson couldn't get the handle on a loose puck and it deflected to the Avalanche forward for a chip shot at 12:24.

The Wild outshot the Avalanche 17-6 in the period and tied the score on Pierre-Marc Bouchard's power-play goal with 39.3 seconds left.

Bouchard was wide open in the right circle when he one-timed defenseman Brent Burns' pass inside the near post.

Avalanche 3, Wild 2

Colorado1 0 2 - 3

Minnesota1 0 1 - 2

First period - 1, Col, Brunette 3 (Hejduk, Forsberg), 12:24 (pp). 2, Min, Bouchard 2 (Burns, Rolston), 19:20 (pp). Penalties - Stastny, Col, (tripping), 4:31; Fedoruk, Min (hooking), 11:47; Jones, Col, (slashing), 12:58; Forsberg, Col, (hooking), 17:30.

Second period - None. Penalty - Veilleux, Min (hooking), 6:02.

Third period - 3, Col, Wolski 2 (Liles, Leopold), 5:06 (pp). 4, Col, Stastny 1 (Hejduk, Forsberg), 6:25. 5, Min, Rolston 2 (Johnsson, Sheppard), 19:57. Penalty - Hill, Min (interference), 3:10.

Shots - Col 6-8-3 - 17. Min 17-15-8 - 40. Power plays - Col 2 of 3; Min 1 of 3. Goalies - Col, Theodore 3-2 (40 shots-38 saves). Min, Backstrom 2-3 (17-14). A - 19,364 (18,064). T - 2:23. Referees - Brad Watson, Wes McCauley. Linesmen - Tim Nowak, Pierre Racicot.

sadowskir@RockyMountainNews.com

Avalanche vs. Wild

Best-of-seven series; times MDT

* Game 1: Avalanche 3, Wild 2, OT

* Game 2: Wild 3, Avalanche 2, OT

* Game 3: Wild 3, Avalanche 2, OT

* Game 4: Avalanche 5, Wild 1

* Game 5: Avalanche 3, Wild 2 Avalanche leads series 3-2

* Game 6: at Avalanche, 8 p.m. Saturday. TV: Altitude, Versus. * *Game 7: at Wild, TBD Monday. TV: Altitude.

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