Avalanche Puts Blues in 2-0 Hole

On one end of the ice, Patrick Roy is making critical saves. On the other, Roman Turek is simply becoming a critic.

Roy stopped 28 shots and the Colorado Avalanche got three goals from unlikely offensive sources Monday night to take control of the Western Conference finals with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

“They scored three goals but they were pretty lucky goals,” said Turek, who faced only 15 shots. “We had two nice goals, but they scored three lucky goals and they won.”

Turek, who had been steady in the first two playoff rounds, vented his frustration after defensemen Ray Bourque and Adam Foote scored on long slap shots and Shjon Podein burned him with a nice move to complete a three-on-two breakaway in the third period.

Podein’s goal with 6:39 to play proved to be the winner as the Avalanche took a 2-0 series lead heading into Game 3 on Wednesday night at St. Louis.

Chris Drury scored into an empty net in the final seconds.

“Being up by two games really puts the pressure on the Blues right now,” Colorado captain Joe Sakic said. “We all know what happened the last two years in Dallas, so we don’t really have to talk too much about it. We knew how important this game was.”

The Avalanche won Game 1 of the conference finals each of the last two years only to lose Game 2, and ultimately the series, to the Dallas Stars.

Since moving from Quebec City to Denver in 1995, the Avalanche has won all eight series after taking a 2-0 lead.

“I know that being down 2-0 is a tough hole,” St. Louis Coach Joel Quenneville said. “But we go home and get some momentum back. We need to get a win under our belt.”