ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996 TAG: 9606050045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DENVER
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLORADO SCORES three times in a span of 3:49 in the second period to draw first blood.
The Florida Panthers had surprised three consecutive playoff opponents with Game 1 victories. This time, there was no surprise - except for the Panthers.
The Colorado Avalanche solved Florida's suffocating defense and steady goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck with a three-goal flurry in 3:49 of the second period and won the Stanley Cup finals opener 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Scott Young shifted the momentum to the Avalanche and its pompom-waving fans with a seemingly soft goal. Mike Ricci and Uwe Krupp quickly followed with goals as Colorado seized what history shows is often the key game in the series.
Since the NHL went to a best-of-seven playoff format, the Game 1 winner has gone on to win 45 of 57 Stanley Cup championships, just as the New Jersey Devils did in upsetting the Detroit Red Wings last season.
Game 2 is Thursday night in Denver before the Stanley Cup takes its most southerly swing ever by shifting to Miami for Game 3 on Saturday night.
``We came out a little hesitant in the first period,'' Ricci said. ``They played very solid hockey, they work very hard. We didn't come out with our best effort. We picked it up a little bit, got our forecheck going and we caught a couple of breaks.''
The Panthers, whose unyielding defense is similar to the Devils' oft-copied neutral-zone trap, were 3-0 in Game 1s before Tuesday, beating Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. But Colorado countered with a more telling statistic - a 34-20 second-period playoff scoring advantage.
Patrick Roy, who already owns two Stanley Cup rings from his days with Montreal and is seeking a third with a team that was the Quebec Nordiques a year ago, preserved the lead with 25 saves in his record-setting 133rd playoff start. He broke the record set by Billy Smith, formerly of the New York Islanders and now Florida's goaltending coach.
The Panthers, making the Cup finals in their third season of existence, weren't supposed to be here - and in Colorado's near-flawless second period, it didn't appear they were.
Maybe it was the mile-high atmosphere getting to a team that stockpiled canisters of oxygen in its dressing room. Or maybe it was the effects of playing a third critical game in a six-day span in which the Avalanche only relaxed.
But the Panthers fell as flat as the McNichols Arena ice midway through the second period after their defense dictated the early tempo and playoff star Tom Fitzgerald's goal at 16:51 of the first period gave them a 1-0 lead.
Florida had just killed Colorado's second power play of the period when Young deftly sailed a 25-foot slap shot by a screened Vanbiesbrouck's left shoulder at 10:32 of the second. Vanbiesbrouck, whose .937 save percentage was the best of the playoffs, never seemed to read Young's shot as it came out of a group of three players.
With the momentum shifting its way for the first time, the Avalanche seemed to sense Vanbiesbrouck was beatable.
Ricci, making up for a subpar regular season, made it 2-1 at 12:21, taking the puck off the back boards and directing it by Vanbiesbrouck while falling into the net.
After that, it was the Panthers' offense that fell flat, managing only five shots in the period.
Valeri Kamensky set up Colorado's pivotal third goal, freezing the defense by faking a shot from the left circle, only to slip the puck to Krupp as he skated unimpeded to the net at 14:21.
The Panthers have won consistently in these hard-to-read playoffs with a defense-first approach, but that doesn't work so well with a two-goal disadvantage. And only Vanbiesbrouck prevented a possible runaway by twice stopping playoffs scoring leader Joe Sakic on breakaways, and by poke-checking the puck away from Kamensky on a 2-on-1 rush.
Fitzgerald, who had game-winning goals in Games 1 and 7 in the Eastern Conference finals against Pittsburgh, took advantage of a rare Colorado defensive breakdown to score the first goal.
Three Avs converged on Bill Lindsay, allowing Fitzgerald to chop the puck by an unaided Roy at 16:51 for his sixth career playoff goal. Fitzgerald has four goals in Florida's last eight playoff games after scoring only 13 all season.
Florida had earlier shut down a 5-on-3 Colorado power play created by roughing penalties on Scott Mellanby and Brian Skrudland within a nine-second span.
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines KEYWORDS: HOCKEYby CNB