FORSBERG FRUSTRATES FLORIDA : COLORADO ROMPS FOR 2-0 FINALS LEAD COLORADO 8, FLORIDA 1.Byline: Alan Robinson Associated Press An Avalanche avalanche, rapidly descending large mass of snow, ice, soil, rock, or mixtures of these materials, sliding or falling in response to the force of gravity. Avalanches, which are natural forms of erosion and often seasonal, are usually classified by their content such as a debris or snow avalanche. Speeds can reach over 200 mi per hr (300 km per hr).? Right now, the Stanley Cup Stanley Cup: see hockey, ice. Finals are looking more like a landslide. Peter Forsberg had a hat trick in less than a period, and Joe Sakic, the scorer-turned-playmaker, finished with four assists as run-and-gun Colorado overwhelmed the defenseless Florida Panthers Version 10.3 of the Mac OS X operating system. Introduced in 2003, Panther included a new style of browsing window in Finder, video conferencing (iChat AV), fast switching between users on the same machine and numerous other features. See Mac OS X. 8-1 Thursday night in Game 2. Down 2-0 in the series and outscored 11-2, the Panthers' only hope is if this fast-building Avalanche snowball melts in the Miami sun. ``Let's not take it two games at a time,'' goaltender Patrick Roy said of a possible Colorado sweep. ``Let's take it one at a time and let's get ready for Game 3. I think it's a different Florida team we're going to see.'' The Panthers certainly weren't the same team that had allowed more than three goals only once in 19 playoff games. The loss was the worst by any team in the Stanley Cup Finals since Pittsburgh beat Minnesota 8-0 in the decisive Game 6 in 1991. Forsberg scored on three of his first four shots against playoff hero John Vanbiesbrouck, who heard derisive chants of ``Beezer, Beezer, Beezer'' before being yanked with Colorado up 4-1 after one period. Rene Corbet and Jon Klemm, who had only one playoff goal between them, both scored twice as the Avalanche - the Quebec Nordiques only a year ago - put the Panthers in a precarious predicament entering Game 3 Saturday in Miami. ``Our top guys were top, top guys,'' Colorado coach Marc Crawford said. ``Joe was magical with his passing, and Peter was very on.'' Of the 37 other teams to trail 2-0 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals, only three rallied to win: Toronto in 1942 and Montreal in 1966 and 1971. ``If we can't play better than this, we're going to be watching somebody else carry the cup around,'' the Panthers' Brian Skrudland said. ``What really hurts is we keep saying, `It's going to happen, it's going to happen.' But, jeepers creepers creeper, common name for members of a family of small, inconspicuous birds related to wrens and nuthatches. They are found in wooded regions of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. A creeper spirals up a tree trunk using its long, stiff tail as a prop and searches out minute insects with its long, downward-curved beak; it then swoops to the base of another tree to begin again., 8-1?'' By the end, the fans were chanting ``Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup'' as Colorado attempts to join the 1937 Washington Redskins as the only major sports team to win a title in its first season following relocation. ``I don't think this was our best game,'' Colorado center Mike Ricci said. ``We're happy with this . . . but it's only one game.'' The Avalanche went 3 for 3 on the power play in the first period after going 0 for 8 in Game 1, and its four goals in the period were more than Pittsburgh scored in any single game against Florida in the Eastern Conference finals. Colorado has outscored Florida 10-2 in the first period in their four games this season. The Panthers' tight-checking, keep-it-close style is designed to frustrate an opponent's big scorers, as Florida did by holding Sakic and Forsberg without a goal as Colorado won 3-1 in Game 1. It is not a style equipped to win shootouts. And this shootout quickly became a blowout, as the foot-stomping Avalanche fans waved snowflake-like white pompons that perfectly complemented the blizzard of scoring. SCHEDULE Avalanche leads series, 2-0 Game 1: Colorado 3, Florida 1 Game 2: Colorado 8, Florida 1 Game 3: Saturday at Florida, 5 p.m., Fox Game 4: Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., ESPN Game 5x: Thursday at Colorado, ESPN Game 6x: June 15 at Florida, 5 p.m., ESPN Game 7x: June 17 at Colorado, 5 p.m., ESPN x-if necessary CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box PHOTO (1--color) The sign behind John Vanbiesbrouck certainly applied, as the goalie allowed four first-period goals. (2) Colorado's Peter Forsberg (21) of the Avalanche celebrates his third goal of the first period, while Panthers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck can only watch. Associated Press Box: Schedule (see text) |
|
||||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion