Opinion: Injuries weren't only reason Colorado lost to Detroit

DENVER - Typically the mantra of a team facing elimination in the playoffs is something about winning a game.
Can't win four in a row until you win one.

But there are usually reasons why the losing team continues to lose. So even winning one becomes a problem.
It was a huge problem for the Colorado Avalanche during the second round of the NHL playoffs.

The Avalanche got swept by the Detroit Red Wings.

Thursday's 8-2 loss wasn't as close as the score would lead us to believe. The Red Wings essentially toyed with the Avalanche.
Injuries definitely hurt the Avalanche.

Peter Forsberg didn't play. Neither did Ryan Smyth, Paul Stastny, Wojtek Wolski or Marek Savtos.

"As far as injuries go, they couldn't have had worse luck," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said.

But Colorado's injury problems this series weren't much different from the regular season. The Avalanche played the season without a star or two or three or four.

Yet the Avalanche never looked quite as bad as it did Thursday. What's amazing is that more Avalanche energy was expected from this series, and it didn't happen.

"The whole series, they had the momentum from the first game," Colorado's Adam Foote said. "It was hard for us to get momentum and get confidence."

Much of the Red Wings' scoring wasn't the result of gritty, hard-nosed effort. Turnovers and bad Avalanche defense led to many of the goals.

The game was akin to a target practice for the Red Wings. Then again, it could've been a practice of odd-man rushes - the Red Wings had plenty. Thursday, the Red Wings played as if they had mastered the Rubik's Cube while the Avalanche looked as if it was marveling at all the bright colors.

The game started with two first-period turnovers, which led to odd-man breaks and two goals, and a soft goal allowed by Jose Theodore. The Red Wings led 3-1 at the end of 20 minutes. And it obviously didn't get better.

Those not liking Theodore's outing cheered loudly when backup goalie Peter Budaj started the second period.

Everybody soon found that it wasn't just the goaltending. Budaj gave up three goals during the second period and what was a rout turned into an embarrassment.

"Those guys capitalized on our mistakes," Foote said. "You can't give them odd-man rushes. You can't play open hockey. ...What happened tonight, it's not fun being swept by anybody. There's good days, and you have to take the praise on the good days. And there are bad days where you have to accept that you failed. We're not feeling good about this, that's for sure."

Now the Avalanche as an organization and as individual members must look ahead to an offseason filled with difficult decisions.

Does Sakic stay or go? Forsberg is in the same boat. Does Colorado keep John-Michael Liles? How about Foote?

"I'm going to take my time and think about it over the summer," Sakic said regarding his future. "It's something obviously I need to make a decision on, discuss it with my family and see where we go."