Ian Laperriere jumped into Alex Tanguay’s already upraised arms.
Even amid the celebratory din, Tanguay was close enough to Laperriere to make himself heard.
“I’d rather be lucky than good, I guess,” Tanguay said.
Responded Laperriere: “I hate you for that. You’re both.”
At that point, their Avalanche teammates converged, making it a mob, celebrating the Tanguay goal only 1:09 into overtime that gave Colorado the 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars and a 3-0 lead in the series.
Yes, it was a bit lucky, as Tanguay’s centering pass, intended for Laperriere from behind the goal line, caromed off the skate of Stars defenseman Willie Mitchell and in. But it counted, and Tanguay got credit for the goal that got the Avs within one victory of a first-round upset of the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed.
“Tangs puts pressure on himself,” Laperriere said a little later in the raucous Avalanche dressing room. “He knows he’s a big part of this team, and if we want to do good this year, he needs to be on his ‘A’ game. That’s what he brought tonight. He’s one of a kind. He’s a great player.”
Tanguay got two goals Wednesday night without being 100 percent physically. He only will indirectly admit that, because that’s part of the playoff dogma in the NHL. In fact, discussing an injury in hockey is considered roughly as smart as firing the puck into your own net.
That’s especially the case when the player in question is gutting it up and staying in the lineup, despite the discomfort and its effect on his game.
In the playoffs, when a series can last as long as a fortnight, opponents, at least in theory, can indulge in a game-after-game targeting of the ailing body part. Or opponents can tailor line matchups or other parts of the game strategy to perhaps take advantage of a lost quarter-step or anything else brought about by a lingering injury.
It’s all part of Playoff Paranoia, frequently based on illogical assumptions, including that the other team’s coaches aren’t paying attention during the games or watching the tapes later and figuring this out themselves.
Subterfuge comes into play if an NHL team must talk about an injury, perhaps because it has knocked the player off the ice for at least a short period of time. Saying it’s an equipment problem only works for a few minutes. “Lower body” is close enough, even if it’s the left shoulder.
But Tanguay’s sprained knee, suffered on March 8 against San Jose, kept him out for 10 games, and he acknowledged even after his return to the lineup in the final week of the regular season – before Playoff Paranoia – that he wasn’t back at full strength. And now, in the first three games of the series, he has looked a step slow, taking four minors and finally breaking through for his first points in Game 3.
“I’m very fortunate,” Tanguay said after his two-goal night. “I felt like I wasn’t playing well the first couple of games, and I got a little lucky here. I felt like I wasn’t skating well, I wasn’t feeling good on the ice, and this is the time of year where you want to step up and play better. I know my role on this team, I know I have to play a little better, and tonight I got a few lucky bounces and we were very fortunate to win that game.”
Tanguay’s first goal against the beleaguered Marty Turco, at 18:53 of the first period, came on a redirection, after Milan Hej- duk made the play, firing the puck on net from the right circle. Tanguay was adamant that his knee is feeling great. “But I’m just having a hard time getting going and playing as well as I’d like. I’m out of breath a lot of times when I come back to the bench. But it’s going to come back. There’s always a period when you come back, the first few games, where you feel great, and after that it gets a little worse.”
He seems to have snapped out of it, though, which is another reason the Stars are on the verge of elimination.
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
