Patrick Marleau scored his NHL-leading seventh goal of the postseason, and Jonathan Cheechoo ensured the victory with a breathtaking between-the-legs goal in the San Jose Sharks' 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series.
Marleau, Cheechoo and Vincent Damphousse each had a goal and an assist, and Evgeni Nabokov recovered after getting flattened by Peter Forsberg to make 20 saves as the Sharks took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Wayne Primeau added an empty-net goal for the Sharks, who are two victories away from the franchise's first trip to the Western Conference finals. Except for Cheechoo's highlight-reel goal, not much was flashy about the Sharks -- but they headed to Game 3 in Denver on Monday with all the momentum.
Niko Dimitrakos had two assists, including an exceptional pass to Marleau to set up the captain's goal in the final minute of the second period. Dimitrakos has five assists in the Sharks' two second-round games, both models of San Jose's relentless discipline, puck possession and strong defense.
Milan Hejduk scored for the Avalanche, who lost the first two games of a playoff series for the first time since the 1999 conference semifinals. David Aebischer improved on his subpar opening-game performance with 20 saves, but he had practically no chance to stop any of the Sharks' goals.
Red Wings 5, Flames 2
In Detroit, Steve Yzerman scored twice 2:13 apart in the second period to give Detroit a three-goal lead, and the Red Wings defeated the Calgary Flames in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series.
Detroit's captain had two goals in a playoff game for the first time since 1999. Yzerman has a franchise-record 70 goals and 181 points in his 20 seasons with the Red Wings.
Curtis Joseph made 14 saves in the victory, and Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 27 shots.
Game 3 is Tuesday in Calgary.
Tomas Holmstrom gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead early in the second period, and after Yzerman's goals, Shean Donovan made it 3-1 at 13:05 of the second.
Detroit had a two-man advantage late in the third period and scored both times, the first on Brett Hull's one-timer and the second on Nicklas Lidstrom's slap shot. Calgary's Martin Gelinas scored with 1:10 left.
The Flames won the series opener without any points from Jarome Iginla, but couldn't do it for a second straight game. Iginla had eight points in the first-round victory over Vancouver after scoring a league-high 41 goals in the regular season.
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