Parting is such sweet sorrow...

Time for some round 2 updates….it was quite a depressing weekend for Avalanche fans. Read on and learn of our sorrow…

Western Conference
4 San Jose vs. 8 Edmonton, series at 1-0: in a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers at the Shark Tank, the San Jose Sharks took the first game of the best of seven series. The lone Edmonton goal came on the power play after former DU standout Matt Carle took a careless hooking penalty 55 seconds into the game. San Jose tied it up just 5 minutes later on a goal by Sharks’ captain Patrick Marleau. Christian Ehrhoff scored the game winner 3:14 into the second stanza. The Sharks managed to catch up to the speedy Oilers and only allowed them 2 shots on goal in the second period and only 16 during the entire game. Dwayne Roloson turned in another great performance for the Oilers making 28 saves on 30 shots. The series continues tonight at 8:30 MST and can be seen on OLN.

5 Anaheim vs. 7 Colorado, series at 2-0: yes that’s right; the Avs lost the first two games in the series while playing at the Pond. That’s not even the worst part about it. Both losses were shutouts. 25 year old Ilya Bryzgalov, former back-up for J.S. Giguere on the Ducks’ squad, actually set an NHL rookie record set in 1945 for the longest amount of shutout time for the post season. He hasn’t allowed a goal in 229 minutes and 42 seconds, which happens to be not only first among rookies, but 4th overall for any goalie, and he set a franchise record recently held by Giguere (217:54 set in 2003). The only thing that can be said about the play of the Avalanche is that it was atrocious. Absolutely terrible…the first game was lost by a score of 5-0, the second by a score of 3-0. The only possible explanation is that they had too much time off (5 days, while Anaheim had only 2 days). This could be to the Avs’ advantage is the Ducks tire as the series goes. But one thing is for sure, they CANNOT afford to lose a game in Colorado. The series moves to Colorado for game 3 on Tuesday at 6pm MST and can be seen on OLN, TSN, and RDS.

Eastern Conference
1 Ottawa vs. 4 Buffalo, series at 0-1: In the only game where the home team lost, the Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators by a score of 7-6 in OT. Former Av Chris Drury netted the game winning goal 18 seconds into 1 OT on a sloppy attempt to clear the puck by Ottawa. At 5 different times of the game, Buffalo was down and 5 times they came back. Here’s the kicker though, Buffalo’s Ryan Miller allowed 6 goals on 33 shots, while Ottawa’s Ray Emery allowed 7 on just 23 shots. I think that definitely points to the sloppiness of both teams in this first game. The series continues tonight in Ottawa at 5pm MST.

2 Carolina vs. 3 New Jersey, series at 1-0: If there is one team that actually played worse than the Avs, it’s New Jersey. This team hadn’t lost since March 26, that’s 15 games, 11 in the regular season and 4 in the post season. On what turned out to be a terrible 34th birthday for Martin Brodeur, the Devils lost 6-0. Brodeur was pulled late the third after allowing 6 goals on 35 shots. Carolina counterpart rookie Cam Ward, on the other hand made 21 saves on 21 shots for his first career playoff shutout. This series continues tonight at 5:30pm MST and can be seen on OLN.

Interesting fact:
Let’s take a look at the ages of the goaltenders and how they have done in the 2nd round:
Western Conference
5 San Jose-Vesa Toskala, 29 won
6 Anaheim-Ilya Bryzgalov, 25 won, won
7 Colorado-Jose Theodore, 29 lost, lost
8 Edmonton-Dwayne Roloson, 37 lost

Easter Conference
1 Ottawa-Ray Emery, 24 lost
2 Carolina-Cam Ward, 22 won

4 Buffalo- Ryan Miller, 25 won

Winning Goaltenders
2 Carolina-Cam Ward, 22 won
4 Buffalo- Ryan Miller, 25 won
5 San Jose-Vesa Toskala, 29 won
6 Anaheim-Ilya Bryzgalov, 25 won, won

Losing Goaltenders
1 Ottawa-Ray Emery, 24 lost
3 New Jersey-Martin Brodeur, 34 lost
7 Colorado-Jose Theodore, 29 lost, lost
8 Edmonton-Dwayne Roloson, 37 lost

It appears that age and experience are not on the side of goaltenders in the new NHL.