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Thursday, May 31
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Avalanche beat Devils at their own game
ESPN.com
ESPN's hockey analysts break down Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, a 3-1 win by the Colorado Avalanche, and preview Saturday's Game 4 at New Jersey (ABC, 8 p.m. ET).
Colorado shows heart
|  | | | Barry Melrose |
Colorado played hard tonight. They won the same battles they did in Game 1. They blocked shots and barely let any get through to the net. The role players came through -- Dan Hinote, Martin Skoula, Ville Nieminen -- just like Turner Stevenson and Bob Corkum did in Game 2. Patrick Roy didn't have a lot of work, but when there was a break down, he was there for them. Colorado out-New Jerseyed New Jersey.
Colorado showed a lot of heart and a lot of character walking into a building and winning. They battled hard and showed some resilience, which showed they're not going to die. They could have lost that game in the first period -- there were four power plays for New Jersey. Instead, they killed off the penalties and took over the game. They only gave up three shots in the second period -- that's pretty awesome.
New Jersey will get spanked pretty good by their coach, who wasn't happy with the way they played. The players also weren't happy with the way they played. They tried to win this game 1-0. As soon as they scored their goal in the first period they stopped attacking. Just like in Game 2, they'll respond, they've responded all year long. Larry Robinson doesn't like them to have to respond -- he wished they didn't have a bad game to respond to.
Where have all the goals gone?
|  | | | Bill Clement |
I fully expect the Devils to win the next game.
It's interesting when a team can open up the lead halfway through the game, you could swear you're looking at the same team from Game 2, they just switched jerseys. I think the most underrated aspect of the Avalanche is their ability to shut teams down when they get a lead. Patrick is a big part of that. At the same time, I think Martin Brodeur would like to have one of those goals back, probably the Ray Bourque goal. When the Devils needed to generate some offense in the second period, they had only three shots. Without a doubt, Colorado isn't given the credit for its ability to boa constrictor teams to death.
I still think Jason Arnott has to start being a physical factor out there. I just want to see more of a consistent physical presence from him -- it hasn't been there and more importantly, it hasn't been there in the offensive zone. Until he elevates his play physically, I don't think Petr Sykora or Patrik Elias will be effective. At the same time, Scott Gomez hardly played in the third period until late. He went 14 minutes without a shift at one point in the game.
It will be interesting to see what Larry has in store for us lines-wise. He may finally juggle them. Alexander Mogilny, coming into Game 3, was in the longest scoring slump of his career. The longest stretch of games -- playoff or regular season -- without a goal. Now he's lengthened that to 13. Gomez hasn't had a point in seven games. I'll be really surprised if he keeps them together. Then again he doesn't have many options. Before Game 3, he didn't like the way Holik and Gomez looked in practice. He was also going to put the Russians -- Mogilny, Sergei Brylin and Sergei Nemchinov -- together. He told me after the game he thought about it before the game and they all looked so bad in practice he decided he couldn't do it. It will be interesting to see what he's going to do to generate offense -- the Devils have scored a grand total of three goals in three games and they were the No. 1 offensive team in the regular season.
Momentum? Not really
|  | | | Brian Engblom |
I think the biggest thing that jumped out to me was Colorado showed it can play good defense. The chances of winning 1-0 is tough because both these teams are talented. Colorado turned the tables on New Jersey and used the same tactics New Jersey had used on them in Game 2. I think they are going to get satisfaction and a lot of confidence out of that aspect -- the way that they beat them, using those tactics against them on the road. Now it's like, we can play that game too, and we can beat you at the same way you beat us. So now it's your turn to go back and find some way to generate speed and all the things we said we needed to do.
The funny feeling I get about this series is the momentum -- a team is either up against it, or in neutral. No one has taken control. New Jersey, having won Game 2, was in neutral and Colorado was up against the wall. Now Colorado is back at neutral and that's good. I don't get the feeling there is any positive momentum that you can honestly say, "OK they're on a roll now." One team would have to win two or three games in a row before there is a point where you definitely feel momentum.
The art of adjusting
|  | | | Darren Pang |
Patrick Roy was adventurous. We had video clips of several times when he wandered from the net. Near the end of the second period he made a decision he wasn't happy with. He was blaming himself, you could tell, because a tied game nearly went 2-1 in New Jersey's favor. I would expect Patrick to make some adjustments and look at the tape and maybe be a little more conservative with his puck decisions.
Besides that he made some terrific saves. New Jersey was in front of him a lot, and when there is a lot of traffic in front, it's hard to see. But he had a pretty good read on the puck.
I don't think Martin Brodeur was the difference in this hockey game. But when you're playing against Patrick and it's tight, you may have to come up with saves that you're not supposed to make, momentum shifting saves. I fully expect Marty to do it in the next game.
Brodeur had no chance on Dan Hinote's two-on-one goal. When that happens you have to use your instincts and his instinct was Ville Nieminen wasn't going to pass the puck, and if he did, Hinote was covered. He was in no man's land and had not chance. Ray Bourque's shot may have caught him by surprise. Bourque said after the game he thought it may have glanced off his shoulder. He handcuffed him with a hard shot -- and the ice was fresh. There is a big difference the way the puck comes off the surface -- the puck is flat and the player can get better wood on it than if the puck was bouncing all over the place.
It is a sign that you have two great teams when they make the adjustments like they have done and win games with those adjustments. Let's face it, in Game 1, New Jersey said "we didn't play very well, we have to make adjustments." Then they won Game 2. Coming into Game 3, all Joe Sakic and the Avalanche said is, "we have to make adjustments and change things." Sure enough, they win Game 3. It wouldn't surprise anyone if New Jersey looked at the tapes and said we have to make adjustments and win, that's why I think this is going seven games. It's the good teams and good coaches and good players that make minor changes to their game and win. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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