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Sakic nets overtime winner as Avalanche edge Wild

Apr 10, 2008 - 5:39 AM By Mike Weimerskirch PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Joe Sakic did what he does best on Wednesday.

The captain netted his NHL-best eighth career playoff overtime winner with 8:49 remaining in the extra session as the sixth-seeded Colorado Avalanche skated to a 3-2 triumph over the third-seeded Minnesota Wild in Game One of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Sakic, who also had an assist, tied Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque for 10th place on the all-time list with 180 postseason points.

"I'm pretty fortunate to be in that spot," Sakic said of his penchant for overtime success. "The only reason we got to overtime was (goaltender Jose) Theodore's play."

Ryan Smyth and defenseman Kurt Sauer scored in the second period and Theodore finished with 28 saves en route to his 16th career playoff victory for Colorado. Smyth had a chance to snap a 2-2 tie with 2:27 remaining in the third period, but Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom made a right pad save.

Mikko Koivu and Todd Fedoruk scored in the third period for Minnesota, which hosts Game Two on Friday.

In the extra session, Sakic backhanded the puck over a fallen Backstrom after the netminder stopped defenseman Ruslan Salei's shot.

"(Salei) gave me the great shot," Sakic said. "The puck was laying right there, it came right to me."

A native of St. Cloud, Minnesota, Sauer deflected a centering feed from Sakic over Backstrom's right shoulder just 89 seconds into the second period to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. It was just the Avalanche's third shot on goal of the game.

"When you get a goal like that from guys who don't score often, it certainly gives your team a lift," Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said.

The Avalanche were held to just two shots in the first period, helped by the fact that they had to kill two penalties late in the session.

"We've got to come out a little more prepared to start the game," Sakic admitted.

Smyth added a power-play goal with 6:52 remaining in the second, deflecting a shot from the blue line by defenseman Jeff Finger. Colorado recorded just one more shot in the period afterward, ending the second with a total of seven.

"They nearly get a goal every time you make a mistake," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "You have to be focused on every detail when you play them."

The Wild halved the deficit at 3:09 of the third, when Koivu's return pass to Brian Rolston hit Finger's skate and deflected past Theodore.

"It's tight on both sides," Koivu said. "It takes a lot to get some room."

Fedoruk leveled the contest just over three minutes later with a power-play goal. A crisp passing play involving Koivu, defenseman Petteri Nummelin and Fedoruk found the enforcer alone on the doorstep, where he waited before lifting a backhander into the top right corner of the net at 6:13 for his first career playoff goal.

"It was just a good play on the power play," Fedoruk said. "(Rolston) kept it in, and the puck came to me in front."

Minnesota, which played without defenseman Nick Schultz due to an emergency appendectomy on Monday, lost the services of Mark Parrish in this one. The right wing suffered a head injury in the second period when he was hit by Salei and crashed into the side boards.

Parrish, whose head hit the upper portion of the boards in front of Minnesota's bench, stayed on the ice for several minutes before being helped to his feet and eventually the locker room.