Monday, May 21 8:00pm ET
Sakic's goal 24 seconds into OT wins it
RECAP
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BOX SCORE
DENVER (AP) -- Wearing the black "16W" cap that represents his
career-long mission, Ray Bourque playfully put teammate Joe Sakic
in a headlock that signified gratitude as much as relief.
|  | | The Blues' Dallas Drake, right, blindsides Dave Reid in the first period. |
With one timely backhand, Sakic sent Bourque and Colorado to the
Stanley Cup finals by scoring on a rebound 24 seconds into overtime
to give the Avalanche a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on
Monday night.
While the Avalanche are five years removed from a championship,
Bourque will play for the Stanley Cup for the first time since
1990. In his 22nd season, he has yet to win the title and his cap
represents the number of victories needed for the Cup.
"You go into every game with pressure, but it's a lot of fun,"
Bourque said. "After you've won the game, it's a lot of relief and
a lot of satisfaction. There was a lot of emotion at the end."
Colorado, the NHL's top team during the regular season, made it
out of the Western Conference finals for the first time in three
years. The Avalanche lost Game 7 of the finals to the Dallas Stars
in 1999 and 2000 but finished St. Louis off in five games.
"I didn't think it would take this long to get back to the
finals," said forward Stephane Yelle, who was a rookie when Colorado
won it all in 1996. "We had some great teams in the past. It took
six years, but now we're here."
Sakic's goal, his ninth of the playoffs, came while Blues
defenseman Alexander Khavanov served a four-minute penalty for
high-sticking, called with 2:16 left in regulation. The hit left
Colorado forward Milan Hejduk bloodied, prompting the double-minor.
"I was just trying to protect myself," Khavanov said. "It's
pretty upsetting, but right now there is nothing I can do. It was
an unfortunate call. I didn't mean to get my stick up."
St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville was equally frustrated.
"This stage of the game is not a good time to go there," he
said. "I had some issues. An overtime power play puts you at a
disadvantage, and that turned out to be the deciding factor. We can
argue it, and I don't want to in this forum."
Nothing came easy in this series as the teams ended with three
straight overtime games, and it looked like another long night when
Colorado failed to get a shot against rookie goalie Brent Johnson
in the final two minutes of regulation.
Johnson, a final-hour replacement for struggling goalie Roman
Turek, finished with 34 saves but fell short in his first career
playoff start when Sakic crashed the net after Johnson stopped Rob
Blake's initial shot from the right circle.
"I can't believe the season ended just like that. It's just a
terrible feeling," Johnson said. "The shot by Blake, all I know
is it squeezed through. It was about a foot and a half behind me
and Sakic came out of nowhere to put it in the empty net. I
couldn't believe it was over."
By avoiding a Game 6 in St. Louis, the Avalanche will enjoy a
break while awaiting their next opponent. Defending champion New
Jersey leads Pittsburgh 3-1 in the Eastern Conference finals
heading into Game 5 on Tuesday night.
"If we could get two, three days to regroup and refuel, that
would be plenty," Colorado coach Bob Hartley said. "We're playing
good hockey right now. We might as well get it on."
Patrick Roy may be Colorado's best player at this point. He
finished with 28 saves, including several big ones in the third
period as he continued one of his best playoff runs in 16 seasons.
The goalie has won three Stanley Cups, including the one with
the Avalanche in his first season in Colorado.
In a three-minute span, Roy stopped Pierre Turgeon, Keith
Tkachuk, Sean Hill, Pavol Demitra and Scott Young to preserve a 1-1
tie. Demitra raised his hand to his head in disbelief and nearly
slammed his stick to the glass after Roy gloved his point-blank
shot at the left post with 11 minutes left.
"I thought I had it," Demitra said. "The puck was jumping, I
shot it quickly, but he made the save. We couldn't get enough shots
past Roy."
Johnson, who has played 211 fewer playoff games than Roy, was
just as impressive, stopping Bourque on a sprawling save with 5:28
left. He also forced Blake to shoot wildly on a good chance in the
slot 30 seconds later.
"He was awesome," Bourque said of Johnson, Colorado's
fifth-round draft pick in 1995.
After being outshot in each of the first four games, Colorado
held a 20-11 shot advantage after Hejduk beat Johnson between the
legs on a power play at 11:20 of the second. Hejduk leads NHL
playoff scorers with seven goals and 13 assists.
The Blues tied it 2:11 later when Bryce Salvador scored from 10
feet out on a pass from Cory Stillman. St. Louis forward Jamal
Mayers made the play possible just seconds earlier by beating
Colorado to a loose puck to prevent an icing call.
The hustle exemplified St. Louis' desperation as the Blues
pulled out all the stops to avoid elimination. The strategy began
when Quenneville benched Turek in favor of Johnson less than an
hour before the game. Turek had allowed 14 goals in the series.
Johnson, who played 83 seconds in Game 4, responded by holding
Colorado scoreless in the first period for the first time in the
series.
The Avalanche made up for it by making their last shot count.
"It was real easy to chip it into the empty net," Sakic said.
Headlocks all around.
Game notes
Avalanche C Peter Forsberg attended his first game since
emergency surgery to remove his ruptured spleen on May 10. His
recovery is going well, but Forsberg still expects to miss the rest
of the playoffs. ... Colorado D Jon Klemm did not play after
injuring his right knee in Game 4. Bryan Muir was activated as the
team's sixth defenseman. ... St. Louis D Sean Hill left the game at
10:52 of the first after being hit in the right leg while blocking
a shot. He returned in the second period. ... The Blues fell short
in their attempt to make their first Stanley Cup finals appearance
in 31 years.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Colorado Clubhouse
Frei: Avs not spectacular, but they get the job done
Forsberg says he expects to miss rest of playoffs
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rob Blake takes the shot on goal and Joe Sakic tips in the game-winner.
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Cable Modem
Cory Stillman makes the pass from behind the net and Bryce Salvador scores the one-timer.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN
Cable Modem
Milan Hejduk controls the puck in front and goes five-hole with the backhand.
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Cable Modem
 Ray Bourque shares the emotions of advancing to the Stanley Cup finals.
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Conference final MVP Joe Sakic talks ESPN's Joe Micheletti following the game.
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Coach Bob Hartley joins ESPN's Joe Micheletti as the Avalanche advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.
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