Friday, May 31, 2002
Red Wings not feeling safe at home
By KEVIN ALLEN
USA TODAY
DETROIT — As thankful as Detroit Red Wings winger Darren McCarty is to have home ice for Game 7, he isn't counting on the Colorado Avalanche viewing Joe Louis Arena as a chamber of horrors Friday.
“We have to take advantage of (home ice),” McCarty said. “Colorado is a great hockey team. It doesn't matter where the game is played. It could be in a parking lot, (but) it's going to be a competitive, close hockey game.”
A review of the first six games of the Western Conference final, and Colorado's recent playoff history, supports that contention.
Three of the first six games have gone to overtime, and after about 19 periods, the goal count is 15 for Detroit and 13 for Colorado. The vast majority of the series has been played with one team holding a one-goal lead or in a tie. This meeting of NHL kingpins has lived up to all pre-series expectations.
When the Red Wings chiseled out a 2-0 win in Game 6 to tie the series, the reaction was more relief than jubilation. “We're not kidding ourselves,” Detroit's Chris Chelios said. “It could have gone either way.”
The Avs theoretically would have an advantage in Game 7 because they have won four Game 7s in row, including two this season and one last season against the New Jersey Devils to win the Stanley Cup. Also, the road team is 9-3 in this year's conference final.
Colorado is viewed as a terrific road team and has won six of its last eight playoff games in Detroit.
“We play better on the road,” Colorado captain Joe Sakic said.
Nobody seems to know why. “We just get up a little more,” Colorado forward Chris Drury said. “We view being on the road as a bigger challenge.”
Detroit captain Steve Yzerman believes that teams just play a simpler game on the road.
“They don't force it as much,” he said. “At home you feel a need to generate something, and on the road you play more patient.”
McCarty has played 128 NHL playoff games, but he has only two Game 7s on his resume. The Red Wings are 1-1 in those games. But none of this matters, according to the players.
In competitive terms, Game 7 probably will come down to the games within the game, such as the Dominik Hasek vs. Patrick Roy goaltending duel. The Red Wings' defensive challenge will be preventing Peter Forsberg or Sakic from taking over the game. By all accounts, the Red Wings have more depth, but the Avalanche have arguably the two best forwards in the world.
“Home ice in the playoffs just isn't as important as it is in basketball,” McCarty said. “But when it comes down to playing the seventh game, that's where you might have a little bit of an advantage.”
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Red Wings not feeling safe at home
