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History says Avs For Coyotes to dig out of 3-0 hole, it will take a miracle
Posted: Tuesday April 18, 2000 09:15 PM
PHOENIX (AP) -- Every time Patrick Roy wins a playoff game, he adds to his career record. He has done the traditional victory lap holding three Stanley Cups. And he knows how to finish a series. "It's important for us to keep on playing the same way -- with emotion and passion," Roy said of Game 4 of Colorado's best-of-7 Western Conference series with the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday night in the America West Arena. The Avalanche hold a 3-0 lead, and the Coyotes are looking at their ninth straight first-round exit in a string of futility dating to 1987. That year, the former Winnipeg Jets reached the second round and were swept by Edmonton. They have not been swept in a postseason series since then. "We're in a huge hole now. We've got to beat this team four times," Phoenix captain Keith Tkachuk said. The odds against that are huge -- only two major league teams in any sport have come back from three games down to win a seven-game series. Both were in the NHL, but it hasn't been done since the New York Islanders in 1975, and Roy is there to make sure Colorado doesn't become a third footnote in the history books. Roy, who helped Montreal take the cup in 1986 and 1993 and led the way for the Avalanche in 1996, got his 113th playoff victory Monday night in his 182nd postseason game. Roy had 23 saves in a 4-2 win over the Coyotes -- an ordinary performance by his standards, but enough to push Phoenix to the brink. His 2.00 goals-against average in three wins is better than his lifetime mark, and he seems to gain confidence from each success. If the Avs advance to the conference finals, as they did last year, Roy will have a chance to win at least 10 games for the seventh postseason and move past Ken Dryden, who is tied with him at six. Adam Deadmarsh, another of the eight players left from the Avs' championship roster of four years ago, tied his personal playoff bests of two goals and three points in the third game. He scored short-handed, and the winning goal glanced in off his skate -- allowing the Coyotes just 29 seconds to enjoy a 2-2 tie in the third period. So along with a great goalie, speed and experience, the Avs have some luck going for them. "We can't go in like it's 3-0 and it doesn't matter," Deadmarsh said about getting complacent. "We have to go in and be ready to play. Both teams are going to be desperate. We want to play it like it's the first game." The Coyotes, beaten 6-3 and 3-1 the first two games in Denver, played with intensity in the third game, but it did them little good. They warmed up amid reports that the team had been sold and learned Tuesday that the report was true, adding to their foxhole mentality. "Right now, I don't think we have anything to lose," goalie Sean Burke said. "Obviously we've got to go out next game and just throw everything on the line. We're on the ropes, but we've got some fight left in us, and I know this team's got a lot of pride. We're going to go out and give it our best game, and if they can beat us at our best game, they deserve it."
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