Avs/Stars Conference Finals in 1999 and 2000

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

To echo what Admiral Awesome said, not only were the Avalanche not ahead, they hadn't generated a single shot on goal in the 15 minutes before the goal.

I think the Avs were outshot badly the previous two series against Detroit as well. But won largely in part to Roy having a better game or two compared to Osgood.

Hasek was a big step up. And Roy trying too hard to show everyone he was better led to the statue of liberty.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i just watched the statue of liberty goal again. man, the mind plays tricks. i could have sworn it was late in the third with the game tied.



the announcer makes an interesting point though: yzerman might not have ever scored again. this was yzerman on almost literally his last leg, and if colorado wins that game, that might be the end of yzerman’s great career. as it stands, yzerman actually didn’t score another goal that spring, even though he got six assists in six more games to put up one of the most legendary non-conn smythe performances ever. he actually would not score again until the following march. after taking most of the next year off, he plays another two years before calling it a career.

but wow, one of the most famous plays of the last twenty years and count the hall of famers on the ice: sakic (won the faceoff), yzerman (had the two glorious chances), blake (got his stick on yzerman’s first chance), lidstrom (held the zone and got the puck to the net, roy (makes the save, then showboats), fedorov and shanahan (both get to the rebound before any av notices what’s going on, shanny being a split second faster). forsberg didn’t really do anything and hasek was at the other end of the ice probably laughing his balls off. for completeness, that’s greg de vries who fails to clear it, fredrik olausson who keeps it in, and milan hejduk who is ineffective pressuring lidstrom.

 

[quoipourquoi]

Fedorov’s shorthanded breakaway goal? That was actually in the game 4 loss. Game 6 was 2-0 (Statue of Liberty, McCarty)

No, Fedorov had a breakaway in the opening seconds of the second period of Game 6 (essentially one minute of game time after the Statue of Liberty goal). Roy caught it and skated out of his crease with his glove in the air. Peak obnoxious Roy, but the Avalanche were a lot stronger in the second and third - maybe the best they looked in a bad series.

I don't know that the weight of everything that went wrong (Statue of Liberty, stick measurement, Drury putting a puck over Hasek only for it to roll off his back to the outside of the post) hit them until after the game. I looked back thinking the stick measurement did them in, but they were just as aggressive in the third. Played like a team that was one Deadmarsh short.

Still, in terms of embarrassing losses, I don't know that Game 4 in 1997 wasn't the biggest - especially with the Avalanche being favored in the series. All of the Avalanche's pre-game bravado about tying the series was met with getting their teeth kicked in. And in 2002, like those 1999 and 2000 series against Dallas, despite having the three best players, the team as a whole was a little outmatched and a 17-point underdog.

 

[Admiral Awesome]

And in 2002, like those 1999 and 2000 series against Dallas, despite having the three best players, the team as a whole was a little outmatched and a 17-point underdog.

Not to nitpick but I personally think the Avs were the better squad in 2000. That series loss basically came down to Belfour outplaying Roy.