CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP CAPSULES

1. COLORADO vs. 4. ST. LOUIS

Best of seven

Today: at Colorado, noon, Ch. 7

Monday: at Colorado, 5 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday: at St. Louis, 4 p.m., ESPN

Friday: at St. Louis, 4 p.m., ESPN

May 21: *at Colorado, 5 p.m., ESPN

May 23: *at St. Louis, 4 p.m., ESPN

May 25: *at Colorado, 5 p.m., ESPN

(*if necessary, all times Pacific)

THE BREAKDOWN

How they got here: Colorado defeated No. 8 Vancouver, 4-0, and the No. 7 Kings, 4-3; St. Louis defeated No. 5 San Jose, 4-2, and No. 3 Dallas, 4-0.

Season series: Tied, 2-2

Coaches: COL--Bob Hartley; STL--Joel Quenneville.

Scouting report: Is St. Louis Coach Quenneville skilled in voodoo? How else can you explain Colorado center Peter Forsberg having emergency surgery to remove his spleen only hours after leading the Avalanche to a 5-1 series-clinching victory over the Kings? The loss of Forsberg not only robs the Avalanche of its most valuable forward, it swings the entire series in the Blues’ favor. St. Louis goaltender Roman Turek has been slaying the ghosts of his past, first dispatching nemesis San Jose, then giving up only six goals in vanquishing his former Dallas teammates in four consecutive games. Colorado’s Patrick Roy is on top of his game, having stopped 102 of 105 shots over the final four games of the series with the Kings for a .971 save mark. St. Louis has the edge in depth in the forward lines, with Pierre Turgeon, Pavol Demitra, Keith Tkachuk, Scott Young, Dallas Drake and Cory Stillman making an excellent top six. The battered and bruised Avalanche will move Chris Drury into Forsberg’s vacant center slot and hope that Joe Sakic’s injured shoulder has healed enough for him to be effective offensively. Youngsters Milan Hejduk, Alex Tanguay and Ville Nieminen will need to play with more determination than they showed against the Kings. Rob Blake, Adam Foote and 22-year vet Ray Bourque lead perhaps the most talented defensive unit in the NHL. The Blues counter with two big guns of their own, Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis.

Team leaders: COL--Chris Drury (7 goals); Peter Forsberg (10 assists, 14 points). STL--Dallas Drake, Scott Young (4 goals); Pierre Turgeon (9 assists, 12 points).

Injury report: COL--Forsberg (spleen surgery) out. STL--D Jeff Finley (concussion) day-to-day, RW Tyson Nash (torn left knee ligament) out.

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THE MATCHUPS COL STL Avg. goals 3.00 2.90 Goals against avg. 1.63 1.60 Power play pct. 18.1 13.9 Penalty killing 84.7 97.4 Save pct. .928 .938 Face-off pct. 51.6 50.4

*--*

Prediction: St. Louis in six games.