Anaheim, Calif. – Turn on any Southern California sports-talk radio station, pick up any Southern California newspaper on Friday, and it was wall-to-wall Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers. At some point, maybe the people of SoCal might notice there is a pretty good hockey team amid the palm trees.
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim dominated the Avalanche in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals Friday night, winning 5-0 at Arrowhead Pond.
Playing in front of an announced sold-out building that nevertheless had what seemed like hundreds of empty seats, the Ducks made the Avs look bad from start to finish in taking a 1-0 series lead, with Game 2 here Sunday.
Colorado lost first-line left winger Andrew Brunette to injury in the second period, when Anaheim’s Francois Beauchemin elbowed him in the jaw. Brunette did not return. Anaheim’s Samuel Pahlsson scored the first goal on the play, at 2:38.
Avs coach Joel Quenneville said he believes the NHL will look at Beauchemin’s hit thoroughly for a possible suspension, and mocked referee Mick McGeough for stopping play later in the game when the referee was hit by a puck – but not when Brunette lay facedown on the ice after the hit.
“I wish he’d blown the whistle like he did when he got hit,” Quenneville said. “It was a dangerous play. The puck was in the air. (Brunette) didn’t have the puck.”
Quenneville said he thinks Brunette “will be fine” for Game 2.
Avs winger Ian Laperriere called Beauchemin’s hit a “cheap shot.”
“Personally, I thought it was a cheap shot. The puck was behind (Brunette). But it’s the playoffs, and those things happen,” Laperriere said.
Said Beauchemin, when informed of Colorado’s opinion of the hit: “They should check the replay then. I hit him cleanly. He was just off balance a little, and I hit him (clean).”
Playing a fast, physical style the Avs seemed unprepared for, Anaheim struck for four second-period goals against goalie Jose Theodore – one by former Av Teemu Selanne.
Chris Kunitz made it 2-0 at 10:24, after Theodore left a long rebound to his initial shot. Selanne scored at 19:05 on a backhander on a partial breakaway. Avs fans no doubt were asking themselves: “Why couldn’t Selanne ever do that in Denver?”
In many ways the game mirrored Colorado’s opening contest at San Jose in the second round of the 2004 Western Conference playoffs. The Avs couldn’t skate with the Sharks that day, and couldn’t get through a stifling defense that produced turnovers with fast forechecking. The Avs know they need to find a way to solve the problem or it could be a short series.
“We didn’t deserve it tonight,” Avs captain Joe Sakic said. “We have to do a lot better job pressuring the puck. They played well. Not a very good start, but it’s only one game.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adapter@denverpost.com.
