The series, all four games worth, could be summed up in one sequence Thursday night. Patrice Brisebois of the Avalanche was ahead of the field, chasing down a puck behind his net. When he touched it, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim would draw an icing violation.
Except Brisebois didn’t touch the puck first. Anaheim’s younger, faster forward, Chris Kunitz, did. A few seconds later, the puck was in the Avalanche’s net, the Mighty Ducks had the lead and didn’t let it go.
That was how the series went for the Avs, who were swept in a playoff series for the first time since the team moved to Denver in 1995, losing Game 4 of a Western Conference semifinal, 4-1 at the Pepsi Center.
The season is over for the Avalanche. It was one that exceeded the expectations of many, but finished with a fizzle. Just when the team seemed to be jelling and getting healthier than at any point in the regular season, the Avs ran into a Mighty Ducks team that might have been more aptly named the Red Bulls.
Anaheim never let up in the series and never seemed to tire from a breakneck skating pace that had the Avs on their heels most of the time.
“They’ve got size, they’ve got speed, they’ve got skill and they’ve got youth,” Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said of the Mighty Ducks. “We faced a team that, when we played them later on in the year, was probably playing as strong as anybody. They came into the series still in a Game 7 mentality from their last series, and they played really well.”
The Mighty Ducks are a team that exemplifies what it takes to be successful in the New NHL. Speed, and lots of it, is Anaheim’s strength. The Avs were not a slow team, but were made to look it by the Ducks, who never gave Avs skaters any time or space to make decisions with the puck.
The Avs put 41 shots on Anaheim goalie Ilya Bryzgalov in Game 4, many of them high quality. But only one puck went in, and the Avs’ 0-for-5 showing on the power play was a final act of futility. Colorado’s power play was 0-for-24 in the series.
“They just outplayed us,” Avs defenseman Rob Blake said. “They were on the puck more than we were. We just couldn’t make the plays when we needed them, and they did.”
Kunitz’s beating of Brisebois to the puck turned the game around for Anaheim. The Avs took an early 1-0 lead on Joe Sakic’s first goal of the series, and had the Ducks on their heels for a change. But Bryzgalov kept his team in it with some big saves, including a glove stop on Dan Hinote from point-blank range late in the first.
Anaheim regrouped and got a late first-period goal from speedy Todd Marchant after a nice crossing pass from linemate Dustin Penner. Penner and Marchant added third-period goals.
“This isn’t how we had this series written in the books,” Hinote said. “It’s tough when you go out like this. I thought we played better the last two games, but when you put yourself down two games quick like that, they’ve got a good killer instinct and they capitalized. We had our chances to score and we didn’t do it. This was one of my favorite years, which is why it’s such a shame. This year, we had such a blue-collar, hard-working team.”
The Avalanche will go into the offseason needing to address some issues, such as depth on defense and perhaps team speed. The contracts of Sakic and Blake are set to expire, as is that of defenseman Karlis Skrastins.
For now, though, the Avs will reflect on a season and series that ended sooner than they wanted.
“They were obviously pumped from winning the first series,” said Avs goalie Jose Theodore, who made 30 saves and is under contract for next season. “The first couple of games they really dominated us, but as the series went on I thought we were better and better.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
Ducks complete sweep of Colorado
BESTS: Three cheers
Line: The Anaheim trio of Dustin Penner, Joffrey Lupul and Todd Marchant had a great series, the best line from both teams overall.
Gretzky impression: Brad May looked very un-May-like with a pretty deke around Ruslan Salei at the end of the first period, which drew a penalty.
Save: Ilya Bryzgalov robbed Dan Hinote with a glove save from point-blank range in the first period.
Sporting tradition: There isn’t much better in pro sports than the post-series handshake.
KEY MOMENT: Hustle helps
Chris Kunitz of Anaheim beat Patrice Brisebois to stave off an icing violation, leading to a Teemu Selanne goal for a 2-1 Mighty Ducks lead in the second period.
WHY DIDN’T HE DO THAT? Feeling cheated
After the way he played against the Avs, fans might be asking why Teemu Selanne didn’t have surgery on his knee before his one disastrous season with Colorado.
KEY STAT: Power outage
0-for-24: That was the Avalanche’s power-play number for the series. Colorado finished the playoffs 0 for its last 33 overall.
WORSTS: Frayed Jose
Puck-handling moment: Jose Theodore nearly handed the Ducks a goal in the second period with a muffed pass behind his net.
Power play: The Avalanche drew plenty of boos during a late second-period power play in which nothing went right.
Passing: Patrice Brisebois followed up his poor decision in overtime of Game 3 with several sloppy passes in all of Game 4.
Experiment: John-Michael Liles was moved to forward for Game 4 by Avs coach Joel Quenneville, and, understandably, looked out of place.
