Sharks Defeat Avalanche Again

Jonathan Cheechoo’s goal was a thing of beauty. The rest of San Jose’s latest playoff victory was the result of old-fashioned hard work.

Patrick Marleau scored his NHL-leading seventh goal of the postseason, and Cheechoo clinched the victory with a breathtaking, between-the-legs goal in the Sharks’ 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series at San Jose.

Marleau, Cheechoo and Vincent Damphousse each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks.

Evgeni Nabokov recovered after getting flattened by Peter Forsberg to make 20 saves as the Sharks took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Wayne Primeau scored an empty-net goal for the Sharks, who are two victories away from the franchise’s first trip to the conference finals.

Except for Cheechoo’s highlight-reel goal, not much was flashy about the Sharks, but they have all the momentum heading into Game 3 Monday night at Denver.

Niko Dimitrakos had two assists, including an exceptional pass to Marleau in the last minute of the second period. He has five assists in the series.

Milan Hejduk scored for the Avalanche, which lost the first two games of a playoff series for the first time since the 1999 conference semifinals.

The Sharks recovered from an early deficit and led, 2-1, entering the third period, but it was a tense game until Cheechoo, a 28-goal scorer in the regular season, surprised even himself.

On a power play, Brad Stuart took the puck low and made a slow pass in front to Cheechoo, who put his stick backward between his legs and flipped a shot past David Aebischer’s glove in one fluid motion.

Detroit 5, Calgary 2 -- Steve Yzerman needed little help to get the Red Wings even with the Flames in their Western Conference semifinal series.

Yzerman scored two goals 2:13 apart in the second period to give Detroit a three-goal lead in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series at Detroit. Game 3 is Tuesday night at Calgary, Canada.

The Red Wing captain had two goals in a playoff game for the first time since 1999. He has a franchise-record 70 playoff goals and 181 points in his 20 seasons with the Red Wings.

Detroit had a two-man advantage late in the third period and scored two goals, the first on Brett Hull’s one-timer and the second on Nicklas Lidstrom’s slap shot.

Curtis Joseph made 14 saves in the victory, and Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 27 shots.