Hole in Goalie Roy’s Game Must Be Patched Quickly

Patrick Roy is the greatest playoff goalie in NHL history. He has more victories, 125, in more games, 201, than anyone else who has ever patrolled a crease in postseason play. He has led three teams to Stanley Cup championships--the 1985-86 Montreal Canadiens, the 1992-93 Canadiens and the 1995-96 Colorado Avalanche.

But he looked like a stiff Thursday in Game 1 of the Avalanche’s second-round playoff series against the Kings.

Roy gave up three goals on the first 12 shots he faced, then surrendered the deciding goal 14:23 into overtime to King defenseman Jaroslav Modry.

Glen Murray scorched a shot from just inside the blue line off Roy’s arm in the opening period. Nelson Emerson slipped one from point-blank range between Roy’s goalie pads in the second. Murray blasted one from the slot past Roy’s glove in the third.

Modry then buried the winner on a one-timer from the right faceoff circle, giving the Kings a 4-3 victory and a 1-0 series lead.

Roy never had a chance on Modry’s shot, dropping prematurely to his knees in the butterfly style as center Jozef Stumpel faked a shot from the left circle before passing to an unmarked Modry on the opposite wing.

The puck was in the back of the net before Roy could re-set himself after falling for Stumpel’s fake.

You could excuse a soft goal.

You could excuse a poor period.

You could excuse a poor game.

But Roy, 35, hasn’t yet been sharp in five playoff games. If he doesn’t improve today in Game 2, there’s no way the Avalanche can defeat the Kings. It doesn’t matter if crafty center Peter Forsberg scores an opportunistic goal and adds a pair of assists in each of the remaining games--as he did Thursday--the Avalanche won’t advance to the Western Conference finals.

If Felix Potvin continues to play as well as he did in Game 1 and Roy continues to fight the puck, the Avalanche has zero chance to win this series.

Roy showed signs of weakness in the Avalanche’s opening-round sweep of the overmatched Vancouver Canucks. He gave up several goals you would expect him to stop, particularly in Game 1, when the Avalanche had to unleash all of its offensive firepower to eke out a 5-4 victory.

There was further evidence in Game 1 against the Kings that Roy’s playoff touch has abandoned him. He faced 25 shots and let four past him, dropping his postseason save percentage to a woeful .885, the lowest among the goalies still playing. His goals-against average is a respectable 2.46. But both figures are off his career playoff totals of .918 and 2.36.

“My belief from past experience is that things will turn around,” Roy said Friday. “I did a lot of thinking before [Thursday’s] game. I looked back at Games 2, 3 and 4 against Vancouver. Those were very good games. [Thursday], I let in a couple of soft goals. I want to regroup for Game 2 and have a fresh start.”

Confidence is a funny thing. Every team, every player, seeks it and hopes to maintain it for as long as possible. The Kings gained it by the arena-full in polishing off the Detroit Red Wings in six games in the opening round. Beating Roy despite being outshot, 37-25, in Game 1 of the second round only added to their newfound swagger.

Clearly, Roy has lost his confidence and the struggle is on to regain it.

Whether he has lost his technique is another matter. There are reasons to believe the Kings spotted a weakness while scouting Roy and the Avalanche in the Vancouver series. The Kings certainly exploited him in Game 1.

The question is whether he can quickly regain the form that has made him a cinch for the Hall of Fame. And, more to the point, can he regain his confidence in time for today’s faceoff?

“I do believe in myself and trust my style,” he said, adding that the Avalanche’s seven-day layoff between the end of the first round and the start of the second was no excuse for his poor play against the Kings.

Nor would he blame a lack of shots for a lack of sharpness in Game 1. The Kings managed only two shots in the second period.

“I have to play the game the way it is,” he said. “I’m certainly not going to ask my teammates to give up more shots.”

The Avalanche has faith that Game 1 and perhaps the entire Vancouver series were aberrations and that Roy will soon be back on track.

Forsberg went as far as to make this prediction: “He’s going to be outstanding the rest of the way. He’ll bounce back.”

And there was this from Coach Bob Hartley: “He knows he didn’t play up to his standards. We also know that he’ll be much better in Game 2. That’s part of Patrick’s personality.”

Defenseman Adam Foote put it this way: “I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘It’s Patty’s fault,’ because it wasn’t. We can’t give the Kings the kinds of chances we gave them. We have to think of grit and togetherness at this point.”