Not bad for an old man.
“What?” said 38-year-old Joe Sakic, happily sticking the needle in an old acquaintance after scoring the game-winner in Colorado’s 3-2 overtime victory against Minnesota. “You only come to see me during the playoffs?”
In only one playoff game, haven’t we all seen enough to know one thing for certain?
Sakic is a long way from needing a rocking chair. Sure, there’s a comfy spot in the Hall of Fame waiting for the Avalanche captain. But none of us is in any rush to see him retire.
How much longer can Sakic play hockey? As long as it takes for Colorado to win.
Same as it ever was.
Sakic already held the NHL record for overtime goals before he beat Minnesota and put the state of hockey in a state of depression with a rebound score that left Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom helpless.
“Joe was in the right place, right time. He reads the play well. That’s what an experienced guy does,” veteran Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote said.
In a best-of-seven series that figures to be long and difficult, Colorado beat Minnesota at its own game.
The Avs won ugly.
After blowing a two-goal lead in the third period, it would have been easy for Colorado to fold under the rush of the Wild and the roar of 19,352 fans in the arena.
“It was a little tough mentally going into overtime,” Avalanche center Peter Forsberg admitted. “But Joe obviously didn’t care.”
Credit Sakic, who has been quietly gliding through NHL wars unscathed during the better part of two decades, for not losing his cool when the Avs could have easily come undone.
And isn’t that how Minnesota tries to beat you?
The Wild, which still wears gaudy red and green uniforms dedicated to those taste-challenged folks who never bother taking down the Christmas lights, will never change style so long as Jacques Lemaire is coach.
Minnesota does not believe in beauty. The Wild places trust in mucking, grinding and turning every game into a battle of will.
“It’s going to be a tight series,” Sakic said. “We expected that coming in, and we don’t expect it to change.”
Colorado had plenty of reasons to throw hands up in frustration. Regrets? The Avs would have had more than a few if they had let their lead and the series opener slip away.
There was a lucky Wild goal off the skate of defenseman Jeff Finger. There was a point-blank shot by Colorado’s Milan Hejduk in the third period that left him shaking his head in disgust. And there was Avs coach Joel Quenneville, too often caught with the wrong personnel on the ice when Minnesota had top scorer Marian Gaborik take a shift.
But, worst of all: There was Ryan Smyth, the Avalanche’s $31 million man, with the puck and game on his stick in the final three minutes of regulation time, taking a penalty shot with the score tied.
And Smyth, whose work as a freeagent acquisition has been so disappointing he has been demoted to the third line, blew the prime scoring chance.
It was a bad moment the Avs could have regretted for the remainder of the series.
Instead, Sakic came to the team’s emotional rescue, scoring the winner at 11:11 of overtime. Captain Joe beat Backstrom, a netminder who was 6 years old when Sakic scored his first NHL goal.
“The rebound came and the puck was right on my backhand,” Sakic said. “The puck was laying right there. It came right to me. I feel fortunate to be in that spot.”
For Sakic, does it ever really change?
It’s always no big deal. No ego. No pressure.
And no peer.
Same as it ever was.
Sakic quit now?
No way.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
