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Avs shoot for 2-0 lead against Wild

Fri 11th, April 2008

(Sports Network) - The sixth-seeded Colorado Avalanche will try to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals, as they visit the Northwest Division champion Minnesota Wild for Game 2 at Xcel Energy Center.

Joe Sakic scored the game-winning goal 11:11 into overtime of Game 1, as the Avalanche clipped the third-seeded Wild, 3-2, on Wednesday night in St. Paul.

In the extra session, Ruslan Salei fired a slap shot from the left point that hit Minnesota defenseman Martin Skoula in front and went right to the stick of Sakic, who backhanded the puck past Niklas Backstrom.

The 38-year-old Sakic is the club's all-time leader in a host of postseason categories, including games played (163), goals (83) and points (180).

Kurt Sauer and Ryan Smyth also tallied for the sixth-seeded Avalanche, while Sakic added an assist. Jose Theodore was stellar between the pipes, stopping 28-of-30 shots to earn the victory.

Mikko Koivu posted a goal and an assist for the third-seeded Wild, who got 19 saves from Backstrom. Todd Fedoruk also scored for Minnesota.

Minnesota will again be without one of its top defenseman in Nick Schultz, as the blueliner is sidelined indefinitely after undergoing an appendectomy on Monday.

Forward Mark Parrish is also expected to miss tonight's game after he left Wednesday's game in the second period with a head injury and did not return. Parrish had 16 goals and 14 assists for the Wild this season.

Despite the gap in the conference seeding between the Wild and Avs, Colorado actually finished just three points behind Minnesota for second place in the always competitive Northwest.

Overall, the Wild went 5-2-1 versus the Avalanche in 2007-08 and this was their first home loss against Colorado since January 6 of last season. Minnesota had won five straight at home against the Avs before Wednesday's setback.

This is the second-ever playoff series between these clubs. Minnesota won the only other postseason meeting, shocking the Avs in seven games of a 2003 conference quarterfinal series.

The Wild are in the playoffs for the third straight year, while Colorado is back after a one-year absence last season that ended a string of 11 straight postseason appearances.

This series will shift to Denver for Game 3 on Monday, as the Avalanche are scheduled to host the Wild at the Pepsi Center.

The Wild, who always play well at home, were 25-11-5 in St. Paul this season, while Colorado was just 17-19-5 as the visiting team.

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