Dallas – Typical Joe Sakic moment: The Avalanche captain was unaware he had set an NHL record, passing Maurice “Rocket” Richard with his overtime goal Monday night that beat the Dallas Stars in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series.
Then again, nobody was aware it was Sakic – instead of John-Michael Liles – who scored the goal that gave the Avs the final tipping point in a crazy game at American Airlines Center.
Sakic’s tip of Liles’ screaming slap shot beat Stars goalie Marty Turco at 4:36 of overtime, giving Colorado a 5-4 win and a 2-0 series lead with Game 3 on Wednesday at the Pepsi Center.
“It’s certainly an honor to be mentioned in the same breath as (Richard),” said Sakic, whose OT goal was his seventh in the playoffs as a pro. “(Liles) deserves all the credit for the goal, though. He got a great shot off, and it just hit my stick a little.”
The Avs won a game that at one point seemed impossible for them to lose and later impossible to win. Down a goal and short one man because of a penalty, the Avs forced overtime when Brett Clark’s diving chip shot beat Turco with 2:04 left in regulation.
“The momentum changes in tonight’s game was gigantic,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said. “That was a pretty interesting game, not a traditional playoff game.”
Colorado built a 3-0 lead in the first period and again had Stars fans booing the home team. The shots were 12-3 in favor 0f the Avs after the first, with three going in off the sticks of Rob Blake and Milan Hejduk and off the skate of Andrew Brunette.
“And then I think we started feeling a little too good about ourselves,” Sakic said.
Doing everything the Avs did to Dallas after falling behind by two goals in Game 1, the Stars used a hard forechecking presence to force turnovers and panicky moves by the Avs in their own zone. With three seconds left in the second period, Dallas led by one after Stars captain Mike Modano scored a power-play goal.
The Avs’ attempts to score the tying goal kept getting sidetracked by penalties. Alex Tanguay and Brunette were each sent to the box twice for various infractions. With 3:12 left, Dan Hinote was called for interference against Turco. As Hinote went into the box, he seemed to take Colorado’s comeback hopes with him -until Hejduk and Clark struck for the tying goal.
Hejduk grabbed a loose puck and skated down the left side before throwing a pass out front that Clark tipped past Turco.
“We battled in the third period, but there were a lot of calls against us. It was tough,” said Hejduk, who had a goal and three assists.
The Avs survived briefly being down two men in the final minute when Blake cleared a puck into the stands, then survived Jason Arnott’s blast shortly into OT that hit a post.
That cleared the way for Hejduk to circle around the net, spot Liles on the weak side and watch as Sakic tipped the puck in.
“The puck was rolling and I didn’t think I picked my head up. I was just trying to shoot it as hard as possible,” Liles said. “It was just one of those overtime things; a rolling puck, just try and shoot it as hard as possible. I saw Joe Sakic was in front and I thought he got a tip on it.
“I wasn’t sure, and he won’t tell me if he did or not.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
Avs win Game 2
KEY MOMENT: Clark’s stunner
When Brett Clark scored a short-handed goal with 2:04 left in regulation, it stunned the crowd and the Stars, who never seemed to mentally recover.
KEY STAT: Good shooting
Twenty-three shots, five goals. For the Avalanche, it was a lot of goals for not that many shots against Dallas goalie Marty Turco.
HAIL TO THE CAPTAINS: “C” is for cool
The game was a testament to the enduring greatness of each team’s captain. Stars leader Mike Modano helped lead the charge back from a 3-0 deficit, and Joe Sakic struck back with the OT winner to set an NHL record.
BESTS: Blake’s a blast
Slap shot: Rob Blake’s blast from the blue line that gave the Avs a 1-0 lead 7:06 into the game.
Never-say-die moment: Brett Clark’s diving chip shot past Marty Turco that tied the game with the Avs short-handed.
Line: The Dallas trio of Brenden Morrow, Niko Kapanen and Jere Lehtinen got the Stars back in the game with tenacious forechecking and an ability to capitalize offensively.
Faceoff man: Mike Modano in a landslide. The Stars captain won 17-of-22 faceoffs through the first 60 minutes (77 percent).
WORSTS: Back off
Puck awareness: Jose Theodore probably should have backed into the net more when he realized he didn’t know where the puck was. It flew high in the air, hit his back and went into the net, tying the game at 3.
Judgment: Alex Tanguay took two straight tripping penalties in the third period.
Return on investment: Bill Guerin, one of the highest-paid NHL players, saw just 9:16 of ice time and was a minus-1.
