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(Sunshine) You, Detroit! by Michael Dell, Editor-in-Chief The Colorado Avalanche brought the Detroit Red Wings' two-year Stanley Cup reign to an end on Tuesday night, smackin' the Wings 5-2 in Game Six at Joe Louis Arena to move on to face the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals. And I've got one thing to say about it... (Sunshine) you, Detroit! You lousy (sunshinin') (sunshiners)! Kirk Maltby? (Sunshine) you! Chris Osgood? (Sunshine) you! Martin Lapointe? (Sunshine) you! Slava Kozlov? (Sunshine) you! (Sunshine) the whole (sunshinin') lot of ya! Except for, you know, Steve Yzerman, Darren McCarty, and Nicklas Lidstrom, because they're pretty cool. But all you other guys? (Sunshine) you!
Game Six was quite the entertaining show. It was everything hockey fans could want. It was also proof for any doubters out there that Peter Forsberg is the best hockey player on the planet. There's just no question he's the greatest. It's a fact. Talk about Jaromir Jagr all you want, Forsberg is the best player in the world. End of discussion. Things started quickly, with Detroit opening up the first period with a might powerful enthusiasm. The Wings pressed the attack early, firing shots from all angles at Patrick Roy. But the Avalanche didn't panic and slowly started to turn the tide, taking advantage of Detroit's unbridled offensive zeal to counterpunch with odd-man breaks. Joe Sakic had the first chance, electing to shoot the puck off the right wing on a two-on-one with Milan Hejduk only to have his shot denied by Chris Osgood's right pad. A few minutes later, Forsberg sprung Valeri Kamensky behind the defense with a brilliant lead pass. Now, Kamensky will freak Osgood one-on-one any day of the week as sure as ten dimes will buy a dollar, but the Russian magician actually missed a yawning net after dispatching the Detroit netminder with a smooth backhand move. Yeah, not finishing a breakaway sucks. Especially against Osgood. It's just embarrassing. But the Avalanche would cash in on Detroit's third major defensive lapse of the period. The play was along the left wing boards of the Colorado zone. Jamie Macoun pinched to try and keep the puck alive at the blue line and got tangled with Claude Lemieux. Forsberg skated in and poked the puck free, creating a two-on-one with Kamensky against Chris Chelios. Kamensky carried the puck on the right side and Forsberg peeled off to fill the left side. Chelios went down to one knee and attempted to take away the passing lane with his stick, but Kamensky floated a perfect saucer pass across for Petey to tap behind a helpless Osgood. The goal came at 16:15 of the first and was Forsberg's fifth of the postseason. Colorado's dynamic rookie duo then came through early in the second period to build the lead to 3-0. Hejduk struck for his fifth goal of the playoffs at 4:12, planting himself in the slot and deflecting an Aaron Miller slap shot from the left point behind Osgood. About a minute and a half later, Chris Drury potted his third of the playoffs, drilling a shot from the right side of the high slot past Osgood's blocker. The play started when Sylvain Lefebvre cut an errant Detroit pass at center ice and quickly relayed it to a breaking Kamensky on right wing. Kamensky backed off Todd Gill with speed and then set the table for Drury coming late with a beautiful drop pass that was ripe for the picking. Drury got a touch and then dropped the hammer. Osgood was beaten worse than MTV's integrity. With the Wings reeling, Roy seemed to open the door for a comeback by taking a needless slashing penalty against Tomas Holmstrom at 6:46 of the middle frame. But you know what will kill a comeback? A short-handed goal. And who better to deliver it than Joe Sakic? Igor Larionov, playing with a plastic cast on his broken little finger, was the lone man back at center and lost control of the puck. Adam Deadmarsh swiped the loose biscuit and blew right around the aging Russian playmaker, cutting in on his forehand and stuffing a shot low that Osgood dropped to his left side to stop. The rebound slipped free and Sakic followed the play like a champ, sliding the puck beyond the reach of Osgood's glove before getting buried by backcheckers. The goal was Sakic's first of the series and was clearly the turning point of the game. If the Wings convert the power play, the score's 3-1 and they have new life. But not only don't they score, they also fall further behind. Short-handed goals are brutal. Even though it was 4-0 and Colorado was in complete control, the Wings didn't give up. Hey, they won two Cups for a reason. Detroit rallied late in the second period to cut the lead to 4-2 thanks to a pair of goals 29 seconds apart. The first came on the power play. Colorado simply couldn't clear the zone and Detroit started to wear down the penalty killers with some excellent puck movement. The man-advantaged culminated with Yzerman faking two shots in the high slot and then dishing a soft backhand pass to Lidstrom at the top of the right wing circle. The Swedish blueliner blistered a one-timer that struck the right wing post, bounced off Roy's left arm, and then caromed into the net to get Detroit on the board at 17:24. Darren McCarty then made it 4-2 by knocking down a Todd Gill shot from the center point under Roy's rising blocker. That's what we like to call two in a hurry or, in drinking terms, a double. The goals brought the Detroit faithful to life and the ol' Joe was rockin'. The Winged-Wheel dominated the next couple minutes of play until Slava Kozlov got whistled for cross-checking at 19:27, bringing an end to the momentum and allowing the Avalanche to escape to the second intermission with the two-goal lead. Colorado regrouped in the dressing room and came out for the third period a much more composed club. The men with feet on their shoulders quit running around and once again settled into their disciplined defensive style. And whenever the Wings did create a chance, Roy was there to shut the door. Of course, McCarty did his part to help, too. About five minutes into the third, the burly winger had a golden opportunity to make it 4-3 when he found a puck all alone in front of Roy. McCarty pulled the trigger all quick like but sent his shot over the crossbar. Roy will do that to people.
St. Patrick was called upon to make a huge save on Dougie Brown. The scrappy veteran cruised down the slot and somehow managed to knock a Slava Kozlov pass from the left wing boards out of the air, deflecting the puck towards the bottom left corner of the net. Roy followed the play like, well, Roy and kicked the rock away with his right skate. Brown's chance was Detroit's last hurrah. The stage was now set for Forsberg to flash some talent. The Wings were pressuring in the Colorado zone when Chelios pinched along the right wing boards to keep the play alive. Larionov supported his blueliner like a pro and circled behind to man the right point and collect the puck. Forsberg applied some token pressure and Larionov panicked; trying to force a diagonal, cross-ice pass down low. Forsberg blocked the pass with his skates and it was off to the races. With Chelios now caught along the wall and Mathieu Dandenault having carried the puck deep to start the whole play, it was up to Larionov to try and stop Forsberg. That's grief. Petey fought through Larionov, raced in on Osgood, and abused the Detroit goaltender with a backhand deke before slamming home a forehand shot and crashing into the cage. It could be one of the greatest playoff goals of all time. In short, it was a Mario Lemieux goal. It came at 13:31 and rendered the remaining clock a moot point at best. Colorado was tremendous. Detroit couldn't get anything at all going through the neutral zone. The Avalanche played a tight, disciplined game that frustrated the Wings at every turn. The Avalanche was simply the better team the past four games. Detroit, for all its vaunted depth, couldn't hang with Colorado's top three lines. But the biggest difference was in net. Patrick Roy was too much.
Impressive PerformancesCOLORADO Peter Forsberg (2-0-2): He's the best player in the world, and he proved it. Forsberg dominated whenever he was on the ice. He was in complete control at all times. Adam Foote (+3): Foote is right there with Derian Hatcher and Chris Pronger when it comes to elite defensive defensemen. He played half the game and made the lives of the Red Wing forwards miserable. Patrick Roy (35 saves): The only shots to beat him were a deflection and a Nicky Lidstrom one-timer off the post. No shame in either one. If Roy saw it, he stopped it. He had the Detroit shooters shaking their heads. DETROIT Not Chris Chelios: I think only the faceoff circles were on the ice for more goals than Chelios. He was used more than recyclable paper, finishing the night at a -4. Not Sergei Fedorov: Did Sergei even play? Maybe he was too busy thinking about taking his girlfriend to the senior prom? Is she even old enough to go to the senior prom? Either way, it's a memory that could last a lifetime, so I could understand the preoccupation.
Wacky Game Facts* Colorado was the last team to beat the Red Wings in the playoffs, dropping them in six games back in 1996. * The Detroit dressing room has more weasels per square inch than the entire state of Iowa.
LinesColorado: Coach Bob Hartley rolled his top three lines and gave his fourth unit the occasional shift when needed. OFFENSE (lw-c-rw)
Hejduk - Sakic - Fleury DEFENSE
Foote - Lefebvre POWER PLAY
Sakic - Deadmarsh - Fleury - Ozolinsh - Lemieux SHORT-HANDED
Sakic - Podein - Foote - Lefebvre Detroit: Scotty Bowman started Sergei Fedorov between Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan, but the line only lasted one shift. The Wings were without Ulf Samuelsson, who was on the shelf with a groin injury. OFFENSE (lw-c-rw)
Shanahan - Yzerman - Holmstrom DEFENSE
Lidstrom - Chelios POWER PLAY
Clark - Yzerman - Holmstrom - Murphy - Chelios SHORT-HANDED
Yzerman - Shanahan - Lidstrom - Chelios Oh yeah, one more thing... (sunshine) you, Detroit!
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