Injuries decimating for Avs

Rick Sadowski and Aaron J. Lopez

Published April 30, 2008 at 12:18 a.m.

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Photo by Darin McGregor / The Rocky

Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg, upper left, sneaks the puck past Avalanche goalie Jose Theodore during the second period of Tuesday night's Game 3 at the Pepsi Center. Zetterberg's goal turned out to be the winner. He also had an assist in the first period.

The Avalanche is starting to run out of healthy bodies.

As if playing against the Detroit Red Wings at full strength isn't difficult enough, the Avalanche lost another forward - center Paul Stastny to a knee injury - in the first period Tuesday night.

Coach Joel Quenneville would only say Stastny would be re-evaluated today.

"We'll know more then," he said.

Left wing Ryan Smyth was scratched with a foot injury he suffered while blocking a shot in Saturday's game and left wing Wojtek Wolski was declared out of the remainder of the series after he suffered an undisclosed upper body injury in Game 1.

"It's unfortunate what happened, but it's part of the game," Andrew Brunette said. "We have to find a solution to this problem."

The Avalanche did get left wing Peter Forsberg and defenseman Scott Hannan back. Forsberg sat out the first two games of the series with a groin injury and Hannan didn't play Saturday because of a foot ailment, but he was shaken up in the final 20 seconds of Tuesday's game on a hit by Valtteri Filppula.

Hannan didn't play Saturday because of a foot injury. His return meant Jeff Finger was scratched for the fifth time in the past six games.

"We've definitely had our share (of injuries), but this organization has never made any excuses with injuries, and we're not going to start now," captain Joe Sakic said. "The guys in the lineup, we have to find a way to win the next game."

No longer Red Wings fan

Avalanche rookie T.J. Hensick had trouble settling down for his usual pregame nap after learning Tuesday morning he would make his NHL playoff debut against the team he cheered on as a kid.

"I get pretty nervous," the Lansing, Mich., native said. "I don't think I've ever really been as nervous as I was (Tuesday night)."

Hensick, filling in for Smyth, shook off the nerves pretty quick, assisting on Cody McLeod's goal 5:18 into the game.

"It's definitely the biggest game I've ever played in. The adrenaline was there," he said. "We didn't get the win, but experiencewise, it was good for me.

"It's pretty special to not only get in the NHL playoffs, but play against the team you grew up watching day in and day out."

Franzen stays hot

The Avalanche still doesn't have an answer for forward Johan Franzen, who put the Red Wings ahead 2-1 in the first period with his sixth goal of the series.

Not that anyone has been able to keep the 6-foot-3, 220-pounder from scoring for the past two months.

Franzen ended the regular season with 15 goals and five assists in 16 games and has eight goals and three assists in eight playoff games.

"It's fun to score, but the whole team is playing great," said Franzen, who had six of the Red Wings' 35 shots. "Just happens to be that I get a lot of chances. Our line and our whole team is playing really good. We're creating a lot of offense. It's fun to play around them right now."

Props to Lidstrom

Forsberg has plenty of respect for Red Wings defenseman and fellow Swedish countryman Nicklas Lidstrom, who is favored to win his sixth Norris Trophy.

"He's definitely a great player and he keeps on going," Forsberg said. "He plays very smart out there. He's not getting himself into too many bad situations. He reads the play so well so I think, unfortunately, he's going to play a couple of more years.

"He positions himself so well on the ice. He's been doing it for ages, which is why he's so successful. He's still a great player, he keeps himself in great shape, and that helps him, too."

Forsberg's favorite memory of Lidstrom?

"When he scored the winning goal in the (2006) Olympics," he said. "It was a great goal. It can't get any better than that."

Still younger

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock never complains about working on his birthday.

"I've been in coaching for about 20 years," said Babcock, who turned 45 on Tuesday. "I always say, when you're playing on your birthday, you've had a good year."

This marks the second time in his five seasons as an NHL coach Babcock has celebrated his birthday while coaching in the playoffs. He took the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003.

Asked what he would like for a gift this year, he said. "Ideally, a win (Tuesday night) would be just fantastic."

Admiring from afar

Many of Peter Stastny's recent mornings have started with a cup of coffee and some satisfying moments watching his son Paul go through his first NHL postseason with the Avalanche.

The elder Stastny, who played 15 NHL seasons, lives in Bratislava, Slovakia, which is eight hours ahead of Denver. That means Game 3 started at 4 a.m. Wednesday in central Europe.

"Sometimes he'll stay up late and watch," Paul said. "He's keeping up on it."

Paul Stastny, who grew up in St. Louis while his dad played for the Blues, said he and his father talk at least once or twice a week.

"He never puts added pressure," said Paul, who entered Tuesday with two goals and one assist in the postseason before getting hurt. "He just wants me to go out there and have fun. That's the way I was brought up and I don't think I'm going to change."

He said it

"He might tell you he was ready to play in the playoffs three years ago. That's not what I saw. He's reinvented himself."

Babcock, on veteran Chris Osgood, who supplanted Dominik Hasek as Detroit's No. 1 goalie in the first round.

AVALANCHE REPORT CARD

* Offense: Detroit controlled the play in the first two periods. The Avalanche finally got the puck deep and applied consistent pressure in the third.

Avalanche: B+

Red Wings: B

* Defense: The Red Wings played their best hockey during the final five minutes to hold off the Avalanche, which had trouble contending with the Red Wings' excellent passing.

Avalanche: C

Red Wings: B

* Goalies: Except for one goal, Jose Theodore wasn't bad and Detroit's Chris Osgood made a key save on David Jones late in the game.

Avalanche: C+

Red Wings: B

* Special teams: Each team took too many undisciplined penalties and four of the seven goals came on the power play. Each team had two penalty-aided goals.

Avalanche: C+

Red Wings: C+

3 STARS OF THE GAME

1 Pavel Datsyuk scored twice and assisted on the eventual winning goal by Henrik Zetterberg.

2 Andrew Brunette was the Avalanche's best player and he collected two power-play goals.

3 Henrik Zetterberg had the eventual winning goal and had one assist.

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