Osgood Ready for Red Wings

Something finally went right for the Detroit Red Wings after they were routed twice on home ice: Goalie Chris Osgood, who hasn’t played since he sprained his right knee April 27, went through a full practice Friday at Joe Louis Arena and said he felt better than at any time since the injury.

Coach Scotty Bowman didn’t speak to reporters Friday, but he’d said after his team’s 6-2 loss Thursday that Osgood “hasn’t got very far to go to be 100%,” and added Osgood’s status would depend on how he fared in practice.

Actually, Bowman has no choice but to start Osgood in Game 5 Sunday at McNichols Arena. Bill Ranford, who excelled in Games 1 and 2, didn’t get through the second period of the last two games and third-stringer Norm Maracle isn’t ready for the pressure the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions face in what has become a best-of-three series.

“He’s our top goaltender, and to get your top guy back means a lot to your team,” associate coach Barry Smith said. “He’s a competitor, and if he plays, I think he’d do a great job for us.”

Osgood, who had a 1.50 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in Detroit’s first-round sweep of the Mighty Ducks, is eager to return.

“My feet are under me more and more and I can move better,” he said before the Red Wings flew to Denver. “Hopefully, it doesn’t get worse and it gets better. I won’t know until Sunday for sure whether I play or not. I hope I can. When you lose two games in the fashion we did at home--we didn’t play very well--you hope to be one of the guys who gives the team a boost and energizes them. . . . It’s the biggest game of the year.”

The Red Wings won the first two games of the series, at McNichols Arena, but Colorado overpowered them at Detroit by playing tenacious defense and getting balanced scoring. The Avalanche, which is 5-0 on the road but 1-4 at home, drew motivation from seeing Detroit fans and TV reporters carry brooms to Game 3 in anticipation of a sweep.

“We just needed to look around, look at TV and read the newspapers,” said winger Claude Lemieux, whose feistiness has been tempered by a case of flu and a sore neck. “That was enough to get you off your butt.”

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Bowman, whose eight Cup triumphs as a head coach equal the record set by Montreal legend Toe Blake, again hinted he may retire. However, in each of the last two seasons he indicated--or outright told associates--he would retire, then changed his mind.

The Red Wings’ playoff performance may influence his decision. It’s widely believed that if he breaks Blake’s record, he will find it easier to leave.

Asked how long he will coach, Bowman said Thursday he sees his tenure as “very short term, I know that. You can’t look too far ahead.”

Bowman, 65, underwent knee surgery and an angioplasty last summer and missed the first five games of the season.

“The days were long,” he said of his recuperation. “If I don’t coach, I don’t want to be a scout just to stay in hockey. . . . The alternative is more scary than coaching. Once the season is over, [a decision] has got to be done and I’ll either be back or be gone.”

Bowman’s contract provides for a three-year term as a consultant when he relinquishes the coaching job.

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Red Wing captain Steve Yzerman’s wife, Lisa, gave birth to their third daughter Friday morning. Yzerman, whose seven-game playoff point streak ended Thursday, planned to join the team here today. . . . Detroit center Igor Larionov remains out indefinitely after breaking his left pinky in Game 2.

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Tie Domi is a disappointed hockey player but not one to cause dissension in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ dressing room in the midst of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Domi, upset about taking the pregame skate then being deleted from the lineup before a 3-2 overtime victory Thursday night in Pittsburgh, skated with the scrubs Friday. The regulars had the day off, resting up for tonight, when they try to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.

But he held his ego in check.

“We won, and that’s all that matters,” he said,

Coach Pat Quinn said he scratched Domi because the fourth-line forward is injured. During the first-round elimination of the Philadelphia Flyers, Domi was said to have a slight groin pull. But he hadn’t missed any games, until Game 4 against the Penguins.

Domi sat in the dressing room watching Game 4 on TV.

“It was tough not to be part of it,” he said. “After all these years not being in the playoffs and being in the playoffs now, not being part of a big game.”

Egos must be put aside in favor of team goals, Quinn said.

“We’re here to do one thing and that’s to win this series. It’s my job to make the decisions.”

Also, the Maple Leafs officially declared center Alyn McCauley out for the playoffs because of post-concussion syndrome. The Leafs have been without McCauley since March 3.

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The Phoenix Coyotes, who were eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in the first round, signed forwards Juha Ylonen and Louie DeBrusk to multiyear contracts. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Times wire services contributed to this report.