Avalanche and Devils Advance With Victories

Down 3-0 and apparently headed toward a seventh game against the determined Chicago Blackhawks, the Colorado Avalanche began playing like a team that very much wants to defend its NHL title.

Joe Sakic’s first-period goal gave Colorado momentum and a spirited locker-room discussion got the Avalanche psyched. Colorado then took advantage of its own talent and some foolish Blackhawk penalties to advance to the Western Conference semifinals with a 6-3 victory Saturday night at Chicago.

“We said, ‘We know we’re going to get our goals. Let’s go out and dominate,’ ” said Claude Lemieux, who had a big third-period goal. “From Joe’s goal on, we took over.”

“A bad bounce in Game 7 and you never know,” said Sakic, who, like teammate Valeri Kamensky, scored twice. “After the first period, we just started playing our game.”

The Blackhawks were eliminated from the playoffs by Colorado for the second consecutive season.

“We were up 3-0 in the first period at home,” captain Chris Chelios said. “There was no excuse for letting them back in the game. Give them credit, they’re the Stanley Cup champions, but we controlled our own destiny and just didn’t match their intensity.”

The only down note for Colorado was Keith Jones’ torn anterior cruciate ligament, which Avalanche Coach Marc Crawford said would end the rugged wing’s season.

New Jersey 4, Montreal 0--The Canadiens’ power play was powerless and goalie Martin Brodeur stopped 24 shots for his first shutout of the playoffs as the Devils ended their Eastern Conference first-round series with a victory at East Rutherford, N.J.

Montreal didn’t show much offense and was outshot by New Jersey, 49-24, including 19-4 in the first period. The Canadiens’ power play finished zero for 16 in the series.

“You can’t win too many hockey games, especially in the playoffs, when your power play is doing nothing,” Montreal Coach Mario Tremblay said.

While the Canadiens avoided a sweep by winning Game 4 in triple overtime, it marked the second consecutive year they were eliminated in the first round.