Performance Isn’t Worthy of a Replay for Avalanche

So that’s the NHL’s best team, eh? What do you say we just hand ‘em the Stanley Cup right now? Why bother playing Games 3 and 4 at Staples Center?

Yeah, whatever.

The Colorado Avalanche, the league’s leader in the regular season with 118 points, scored one goal Saturday in Game 2 that perhaps shouldn’t have counted and a second only after two Kings fell. Otherwise, they’re still playing late into the afternoon at the Pepsi Center, deadlocked in a scoreless draw.

True, Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy bounced back from a dismal showing in Game 1 on Thursday to record his playoff-record 16th shutout in the Avalanche’s 2-0 victory that evened the series at a game apiece.

Roy stopped 20 shots, but defenseman Ray Bourque bailed him out with the save of the game, swatting away Glen Murray’s short-handed bid from point-blank range in the opening minutes of a scoreless second period.

Perhaps Murray scored on the play, but we’ll never know because video replays were inconclusive because, well, there wasn’t a decent replay available. The question of why not added to an afternoon in which mediocrity reigned supreme.

Center Joe Sakic finally ditched his Invisible Man routine, showing up late in the game to score on a breakaway, but only after Luc Robitaille and Aaron Miller fell on their fannies.

Center Peter Forsberg had an assist, but failed to record a shot on net in 19 minutes 7 seconds of pedestrian play.

Defenseman Adam Foote spent a remarkable portion of his 27:12 on the ice committing crimes that would have you and me tossed into jail. Many people who watch the Avalanche believe Foote is a terrific defenseman. They’ve spent too much time 5,280 feet above sea level. The guy should be ushered to the penalty box each and every time he leaves the bench. If the guy wanted to be in the rodeo, why didn’t he join up?

Defenseman Rob Blake did nothing worth noting, leaving many to wonder how he’ll handle the media glare for the games Monday and Wednesday at Staples Center.

Referees Paul Devorski and Don Koharski have seen better days, letting all manner of atrocities go unpunished--many committed by the aforementioned Mr. Foote.

Video goal judges Don Adam and Bill Boyce should have been selected as co-No. 1 stars of the game. Their inability to determine if Murray’s shot crossed the goal line before Bourque smacked it out of harm’s way was the game’s turning point.

But you can’t blame Adam or Boyce for their ruling because they had little to work with on the video. If they can’t tell whether the puck is in, then it’s ruled no goal.

The question is why, in a two-season-old building, isn’t the ceiling cam directly above the net, so Adam and Boyce could better determine whether the puck was in the net?

Predictably, the Avalanche believed the puck never crossed the line. The Kings weren’t certain.

A goal would have given the Kings a 1-0 lead, nullifying Ville Nieminen’s power-play score for Colorado at the 2:29 mark. Had Murray’s goal been counted, the clock would have been set back to the 1:30 mark and the Kings--not Colorado--would have had the lead.

“It would be tough to find a bigger turning point,” Colorado Coach Bob Hartley said. “It was a great save by Patrick and Ray had a good read on the puck. From our angle, the puck never crossed the line. We were anxiously awaiting the decision of the guys up there [in the replay booth]. You never know what they’ll see up there. We were looking at taking a one-goal lead or they were going to erase it and we’re down by one goal.”

Credit the Kings for not losing their poise after the ruling. Fault them for not charging harder toward Roy’s net. After watching the future Hall of Famer flop around like a fish out of water in Game 1, they should have been poised for the kill in Game 2.

Credit the Avalanche for clogging the neutral zone, halting the Kings repeatedly as they tried to enter the attacking end. Fault the Avalanche for playing a style better suited to an expansion team hoping to hang on to its one-goal lead.

Roy, whose save percentage of .885 going into the game was the worst of all the playoff goalies still playing, faced only five shots in the second period and six in the third.

At game’s end, the Avalanche spoke of Roy as if he had made one spectacular save after another. In fact, Bourque had the game’s best save after Roy failed to get all of Murray’s shot.

Adam Deadmarsh struck the right post with the Kings trailing, 1-0, with 12:33 to play, another fortunate break for Colorado.

“We knew he was going to bounce back,” Bourque said of Roy. “He’s got to relax and play his game. He’s the best in the business.”