The coach’s sarcasm didn’t work. Neither did putting Scott Niedermayer in the penalty box.
What the Avalanche most needed to stay alive in the Western Conference semifinals was to score on the power play, coach Joel Quenneville said before Game 4 on Thursday night. “That may be sarcastic, but we have to find a way to put the puck in the net.”
The best way, suggested star defenseman Rob Blake, would be to “find a way around Scott Niedermayer,” the master of the Ducks’ penalty kill that has not allowed a power-play goal since Game 5 (April 29) of the first round against Calgary, killing off 36.
Twice, Niedermayer made that easy for the Avs, drawing a two-minute penalty for tripping in the middle of the first period when the score was tied 1-1, and siting again for stick holding early in the second period when the Ducks were on top 2-1.
But what the Avs were unable to do in the first three games of the series they were unable to do again in Game 4, going 0-for-5 on power plays to extend their failings in this series to 0-for-24, and 0 for their last 33 overall, the longest drought in Avalanche playoff history.
With or without Niedermayer on the ice, the Avs were hard-pressed to get a shot, going 0-for-8.
But the problem Blake said after the game had more to do with the Ducks’ penalty killing skill, than it did with any of the Avs faults.
During the postseason, the Ducks have killed 56-of-62, tops in the NHL.
“You don’t get a clean entry by any means,” Blake said. “And once you get in there, they shut everything down. They throw three or four guys on there. But you’ve got to find a way to score. That was probably the biggest letdown we had this series.”
“It stunk,” forward Andrew Brunette said.
“Their penalty kill was great, their goaltender was phenomenal when he had to be and we just didn’t capitalize when we had to,” Dan Hinote said. “That’s no fault of our power play or anybody on the bench. Guys were trying hard; we did the right things.
“We had our chances. They just didn’t go in.”
It was the first time in Nordiques/Avalanche history the club has gone six straight playoff games without scoring a power-play goal.
“We didn’t play as well as we could in this series by any means,” Blake said. “They were the better team. They wanted it more.”
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
