Death, Taxes, Avalanche: Colorado Buries Jackets 5-1
By Steve Sirk,  Columbus Wired (3/13/03)

Possessors of an appalling 0-10-1 all-time record against the star-studded Colorado Avalanche entering tonight’s game, the Columbus Blue Jackets were hoping that the 12th time would be the charm. Or, in the words of Columbus Wired's Dave Weissman, “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try and try and try and try and try and try and try and try and try and try again.”

Perhaps embarrassed by the fact that they actually surrendered their first ever point to Columbus in a 2-2 tie at Nationwide in their last meeting, the fired-up Avs pummeled the Jackets early en route to a 5-1 romp before 17,256 mortified fans.

Joe Sakic opened the game with a first-period natural hat-trick, Steve Reinprecht dished off three assists, and Patrick Roy had long since completed a leisurely polishing of his Stanley Cup rings by the time the third period yawned to a close.

“It was men against boys out there,” said Blue Jackets President/GM/Coach/Scoreboard-operator Doug MacLean. “They’re too good. We did a great job on Forsberg, so Sakic gets three. They’re a great team. That’s what $75 million does for you, I guess.”

Unlike the New York Rangers, consider it money well spent.

For a team that boasts what is probably the second most lethal line in all of hockey (the “AMP Line” of Alex Tanguay, Milan Hejduk, and Peter Forserbeg), it must be comforting to know that if that group fails to put the puck in the net for a period or two, there’s some second-line guy named Joe Sakic to pick up the slack. One of the premier players in the game and a certain Hall-of-Famer, Sakic and his linemate Reinprecht wasted no time in finishing off the game before the first buzzer ever sounded.

At 6:04, Reinprecht left the puck in the right circle for a trailing Sakic, who flipped a wicked wrister over Jackets goalie Marc Denis to make it 1-0. At 11:24, Reinprecht skated left-to-right across the front of the goal, faked a shot, and then dished off a crafty no-look backhand to Sakic just inside the left circle. Sakic’s aim was true. 2-0. Then at 16:21, Reinprecht made a long cross-ice pass from right circle to left circle, where Sakic collected and beat Denis’ stick side high to the near post to make it 3-0.

“Reiner (Reinprecht) made some great passes to me and fortunately the puck found a way in.,” said Sakic. “It’s a relief because I’ve had some chances the last few games and none of them went in, so I was getting a little nervous.”

With Sakic’s slump predictably put to bed by Columbus, the AMP Line could finally feel free to do their thing. Just 25 seconds into the second period, Tanguay played a crisp pass across the ice from the left circle onto the stick of a streaking Hejduk, who deked Denis once and flicked a shot under the crossbar on Denis’ glove side. Lights out.

From there on out, it was almost as if the Avs were merely toying with Columbus. On one power play, Colorado almost seemed content to play keep away, like a bunch of bullies tossing a nerd’s backpack around.

Not that there weren’t a few enjoyable moments here and there. The Jackets killed a 5-on-3. There were a few fights, including wild-punching affair between Jody Shelley and Scott Parker that lasted longer than nearly every fight ever promoted by Don King. And in the CBJ highlight of the night, David Ling scored a beauty of a goal against Patrick Roy: The Winningest Goaltender In NHL History™. It came at 10:45 of the second period. Ling raced nearly 100 feet up the left wing and then let fly with a vaporized slap shot that was still rising when it hit the roof of the goal. But even a magical moment such as this was sullied by the Avs dominance.

“It’s always good to score a goal,” shrugged Ling. “I’ve scored a hundred of ‘em in street hockey, but I’d rather have the win.”

The third period was an exercise in…well…exercise. Colorado made it 5-1 when Hejduk and Forsberg assisted on a Greg de Vries goal. That gave the AMP Line four points on the night, a smidge below the 4.2 per game they’ve been averaging during Colorado’s 25-game run up the Western Conference standings. Meanwhile, the Jackets skated the rink a few times and peppered Roy with the sum total of three shots.

“Near the end we just went through motions,” said a flustered Denis. “We need to get rid of that. That’s not how we do things. If the effort and the battling are there, you may still come out on the wrong side of the score, but to be lacking energy is unacceptable.”

And so it went as the Jackets lowered their all-time winning percentage to .042 vs. Colorado. There’s always a shot at Lucky #13 next year.

So what’s up with the Avs dominance over Columbus anyway? The Jackets have hung tight with, and heck—even beaten, all of the other Western Conference powers like Detroit, Dallas, St. Louis and Vancouver. But Colorado wins big nearly ever time these two teams meet. The Jackets have been outscored 50-15 during their 12-game winless streak against the Denver club.

“There are some teams that you just play well against and have their number,” said Roy. “Our team just always seems to play well against Columbus. Marc Denis made some great saves to keep the score what it was.”

Sakic’s theory is that the Avs never let their guard down against the Jackets, thereby avoiding the temptation to overlook an expansion team.

“We respect their team,” said Colorado’s captain. “They have tons of forwards who are fast and skilled so you have to respect them or they’ll score some goals. We really get up for them whenever we play Columbus.”

As for the discouraged players in the Blue Jackets locker room and their legions of fans, Sakic has some empathy for Columbus’ plight when it comes to their maroon-clad bogey team.

“I know what it’s like,” he said. “My first few years in Quebec, we were dominated by pretty much every team in the league, not just one.”