LA CONTINUES TO PLAY INTO THE AVS' HANDS
COLORADO DOWNS THE KINGS, 5-3
AVS TAKE 2-0 SERIES LEAD
DENVER -- Joe Sakic scored two goals and added a big assist, and Peter Forsberg
scored a goal and contributed two assists, to lead the Colorado Avalanche to
another 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in front of a sellout crowd of
18,007 delighted fans at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Saturday afternoon.
The win gave the Avs a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven-games first
round playoff series, with Game Three at Staples Center in Los Angeles on
Monday.
In another game featuring up-and-down, run-and-gun hockey, with little of
anything resembling tough defense from either team, the Avs took an early lead
when Sakic scored at 7:01 of the first period on a two-on-break.
But the Kings answered quickly, with winger Adam Deadmarsh taking a drop pass
at the top of the right circle from right wing Ziggy Palffy. Deadmarsh's
one-timer beat Colorado goalie Patrick Roy, tying the game, 1-1.
The Kings took a 2-1 lead when left wing Mikko Eloranta scored at 13:13 from
right crease after a scramble in front of Roy.
But then the Kings took two penalties in quick succession, giving the Avs a
two-man advantage for 1:54, and Sakic fired the best wrist shot in the league
through a screen and beat Potvin for his second goal of the game on the power
play at 15:37.
In an even more wide-open second period, in which the teams combineed for
thirty-three shots on goal, center Jason Allison gave the Kings a 3-2 lead,
taking a beautiful pass from Palffy in front for an easy goal from left crease
at 8:43.
But then Forsberg and Sakic took over.
After the Kings failed to clear their zone, Forsberg wound up with the loose
puck at right crease, and easily lifted the puck into the net at 11:05.
At the 16:45 mark, Sakic got the puck along the right wing boards, and then
flipped the puck to the front of the net, where forward Steven Reinprecht
deflected it out of mid-air, beating Kings' goalie Felix Potvin low, giving the
Avs the 4-3 lead.
The Avs tightened up defensively in the third period, allowing just six shots
on goal. And after a careless, lazy clearing pass by Kings' defenseman Lubomir
Visnovsky, Forsberg picked off the pass along the right wing boards, and fed
linemate Chris Drury, who fired a one-timer from the right circle, beating
Potvin at 8:45 to give the Avs the 5-3 win.
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