The Avalanche forgot what enabled it to take a three-game lead in its playoff series and allowed the Dallas Stars to skate away with a 4-1 victory Friday night at the Pepsi Center.
They forgot to shoot the puck. Time and again the Avs were in good shooting position, only to make the extra pass and see the play broken up.
“We tried to get a little too cute with the puck at times,” Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. “We had a lot of plays around the net, but we tried to make the better play instead of the simple play.”
The Avs get another chance to close out the series Sunday afternoon at American Airlines Center. Friday’s loss dropped Colorado to 1-6 in its last seven potential closeout playoff games, dating to 2002. Two of the next three possible games will be in Dallas – where Colorado is 0-2 in seventh games.
“We didn’t really establish our game tonight,” Avs winger Andrew Brunette said. “We had a little spurt here and there, but we played too much of their game tonight. They like to play a neutral-zone type of game and they’re real good at it. We’ve got to make a few adjustments and get back to pushing the tempo a little bit more.”
Dallas’ Niklas Hagman broke a 1-1 tie with a second-period goal, a backhander off a partial breakaway after he slipped past Karlis Skrastins and converted a long lead pass from Sergei Zubov. Bill Guerin added a late second-period score, banking in a shot off Jose Theodore’s skates on a wraparound attempt.
The Avs were outshot 19-6 in the second period but not badly outplayed. They spent a fair amount of time in the Dallas zone and had a couple of good odd-man rushes. But the overpassing was a prime fault area.
“I thought the effort was there but like I said, we played too much of the game they want,” Brunette said.
Theodore made some good saves for the Avs, but at least two of the goals he probably should have stopped. The first, by Jere Lehtinen at 7:35 of the first period, was a routine wrist shot from the right circle that beat an unobstructed Theodore to the far post.
That stopped the Avs’ early momentum had gained from Brad Richardson’s goal at 4:46, his first career playoff score that made it 1-0.
The Avs couldn’t get much going in the third period, partly because of too many penalties. Patrice Brisebois and Ian Laperriere took separate minors, and Dallas did a better job than of late standing up the Avs at the blue line, making it tough to get into their zone.
The Avs did have a good flurry on a power play midway through the third, with Rob Blake getting a prime chance in front. But Blake’s shot was blocked.
“I think they were better at their forecheck tonight,” Blake said. “They threw pucks at the net and they went hard to the net. As a result, they got some goals. They played hard tonight. But we get another chance on Sunday to go in there and win.”
Said Stars goalie Marty Turco: “A game like this where it is do or die, it’s not hard to give it everything you have. We know we can play well. There is a great belief in this locker room, and it really shone through tonight.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
