Avs get OT win for series lead

Posted 7:32AM on Tuesday 28th May 2002 ( 23 years ago )

DETROIT - The way Peter Forsberg is playing, he may want to skip next year's regular season, too. Forsberg scored 6:24 into overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 2-1 victory over Detroit on Monday night and a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals. Forsberg, who also had an assist, is the leading scorer in the playoffs with 27 points despite missing the regular season because of four foot operations and surgery to remove his spleen in the past year. As Forsberg left Joe Louis Arena, which he silenced with his breakaway goal, he was asked if missing the regular season helped him in the playoffs. ``I don't know and I can't really think about that right now,'' said Forsberg, who has nine goals and 18 assists in the playoffs. ``The only thing I'm thinking about is the next game.'' That would be at Colorado on Wednesday night when the defending Stanley Cup champions can eliminate the Red Wings in Game 6. ``We know it's going to be extremely difficult,'' Colorado's Joe Sakic said. ``We know they'll be at their best.'' Game 7, if necessary, is Friday night in Detroit. In a series featuring perhaps a dozen future Hall of Famers, Forsberg often looks like the best player on the ice. Whenever he has the puck, he creates space for himself and opportunities for teammates. While others appear frantic, Forsberg is so at ease he seems as if he is skating on a pond at home in Sweden. ``He's showing everybody why he's the best player,'' Colorado's Eric Messier said. ``They've got a lot of great players, but they don't have anybody that can take the puck away from him.'' Detroit coach Scotty Bowman thinks offsides should have been called on the winning goal, which came as the Red Wings got caught on a line change. ``It was a quick play, a hard call,'' Bowman said. ``You're not going to cry over a call like that.'' Steve Yzerman, who tied the game early in the third period, said the Red Wings have only themselves to blame for falling behind in the series for the first time. ``We have to play smarter,'' Yzerman said. ``We have to play our positions. We can't go running all over the ice.'' Colorado and Detroit played their third overtime game of the series - the sixth in their postseason rivalry since 1996 - and the road team won for the sixth time. Colorado, which was outshot 4-1 in the overtime, became the first team in the series to win consecutive games. Steven Reinprecht gave Colorado a 1-0 lead - its fifth in five games - early in the first period. The Avalanche's ninth one-goal lead in the series was negated for the eighth time when Yzerman scored 54 seconds into the third period. Colorado goalie Patrick Roy got some help from the metal behind him, just as Dominik Hasek did earlier in the game. With about 100 seconds left in regulation, Detroit's Brendan Shanahan made a move to fool a defenseman and Roy. His shot from just inside the right circle clanged off the post. ``I'll have a nightmare about that one,'' said Shanahan, who hasn't scored against Colorado. Hasek, who stopped Forsberg's shot with about 10 seconds left in regulation, turned away 27 shots. Roy made 26 saves. ``Patrick, once again, was great,'' Hartley said. And so was Forsberg. On the first goal, he carried the puck along the left boards and spun. He then fed a short pass to Reinprecht, who scored on a wraparound goal just past defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom at 17:11 of the first period. Yzerman scored Detroit's first power-play goal since Game 2. He held the puck in the left corner, then skated toward Roy and flipped a shot that squeezed between the goalie's right knee and the post. It was Yzerman's 67th career playoff goal, tying him with Gordie Howe for the most in Detroit history. NOTES: Forsberg's 84th career playoff assist moved him past Sakic in Avalanche history. ... Reinprecht scored two game-winning goals in the first round against Los Angeles. ... The Avalanche scratched left wings Mike Keane and Alex Tanguay from their lineup before the game. Keane missed a second straight game with a rib injury while Tanguay missed his first game of the playoffs with a leg injury. ... Detroit and Colorado played one overtime game in the 1996, 1999 and 2000 playoffs.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/5/194173