“Crash” won the Oscar for best picture, and crashing the net with traffic has helped the Avalanche bring a 2-0 series lead into tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars as the first-round matchup shifts to the Pepsi Center.
The concept of traffic in hockey is simple: Get as many bodies around the opposing goaltender as possible, hawk the puck to rebound shots, and limit the goalie’s field of vision for oncoming shots.
“You need traffic against any good goalie in the league,” Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. “We’ve had a lot of plays with people at the net and some quick sticks in that area.”
Give any goalie enough unimpeded distance to see a puck coming at him and he’ll stop it. Make him feel like a man trying to hail a cab in Times Square on New Year’s Eve and your chances of scoring increase dramatically.
The Avalanche has scored 10 goals on Stars goalie Marty Turco through the first two games of its Western Conference playoff series. Eight could be classified as traffic goals, including Joe Sakic’s overtime winner in Game 2. Without Sakic’s tip in front, Turco might have stopped John-Michael Liles’ slap shot from the right circle.
Other traffic goals include Milan Hejduk’s putback score in Game 2 after Sakic wheeled for a shot in front, Andrew Brunette deflecting a shot in front with his skate and Hejduk’s Game 1 tip-in.
“You get traffic, usually good things happen,” Brunette said. “I think we’ve (gotten) a lot of traffic on net. Turco is a great goalie and you have to get traffic against a goalie like that.”
Among Avs forwards, Brunette probably is the best at getting traffic on the goalie. His thick frame makes him tough to move, and he’s good at shielding the puck from defensemen. Ian Laperriere, Dan Hinote, Wojtek Wolski and Brett McLean have made life tough on Turco, too, with their buzzing in front of the net.
Some Avalanche teams of the past had more skill up front but liked to play more on the perimeter. Those teams would sometimes badly outshoot opponents but lose because they didn’t create enough traffic. These Avs put only 23 shots on Turco in Monday’s overtime game, but got the five goals through their work around the net.
“We didn’t do that in the second period (Monday) and you saw what happened,” Brunette said. “They were the ones that worked harder around the net, creating traffic. We didn’t, and we gave up four goals.
“We need to get back to playing the way we did in the first four periods of the series – we were very fortunate.”
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
SPOTLIGHT ON IAN LAPERRIERE
The Avalanche winger has a minus-3 in this series, but you can’t put a figure on what he means to Colorado in the toughness and leadership departments. He’s the prototypical playoff-tested role player every team covets this time of year. Laperriere, who does not wear a visor, took eight stitches above his left eye during Game 1 after being checked from behind and smashing into the glass.
NOTEBOOK
LIGHT PRACTICE: Only 14 Avs players participated in Tuesday’s practice. Among those staying off the ice were forwards Joe Sakic, Alex Tanguay and Milan Hejduk, and defensemen Rob Blake, John-Michael Liles, Patrice Brisebois and Karlis Skrastins. The regulars who did participate in the optional practice were on the ice for only about 30 minutes.
SAKIC’S LEGEND: Sakic, who set the NHL record Monday night for most overtime playoff goals (seven) – passing Maurice “Rocket” Richard – was still the talk of practice Tuesday. “Certainly Joe has done a lot of amazing things in his career, and you look back and he should take a lot of pride in being the biggest goal scorer in overtime history,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said. Added Ian Laperriere: “He just passed Maurice Richard, and I’m French-Canadian and I know how big Maurice Richard is,” Laperriere said. “You talk to (Sakic) about it and he’s like, ‘It’s just another goal.”‘
FOOTNOTES: Stars defenseman Sergei Zubov is averaging a series-most 30 minutes, 13 seconds of ice time. … Dallas wing Brenden Morrow leads his team with three points in the series but has a rating of minus-3, tied for worst on the team.
– Mike Chambers, Denver Post staff writer
