Surviving the Avalanche: The Detroit Red Wings Journey Goes Through Colorado

It's been 6 long years but the Red Wings will finally meet their old arch nemesis again on the ice at Joe Louis Arena for a playoff game. 

Many remember the last meeting between these two teams ending with the Red Wings driving the legendary Patrick Roy out of the net on their way to a 7-0 routing of the Avs in game 7. 

From there, the Wings went on to eventually win their 10th Stanley Cup against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Red Wings currently hold a 1-0 edge in their second round series against the Avs after taking game 1 in a less-then-fashionable way last night in Detroit. 

The Wings built a 4-1 lead in the second period behind forward Johan Franzen's two goals, eventually chasing the ailing Colorado goaltender Jose Theodore from the crease.

The Avs, kicked but not down, stormed back, pressuring the Wings defense and goaltender Chris Osgood and getting two goals from John-Michael Liles and one from Milan Hejduk—ending the second period trailing by one with the score 4-3.

Both Osgood and Colorado backup Peter Budaj made phenomenal saves in the third period, but Osgood stole the show and secured the win for Detroit by making a point blank save on a shot from in tight on Liles with only 8.4 seconds remaining in the game. 

The game featured some of the NHL's best players, but the Avs were lacking their top star Peter Forsberg (groin) for game 1 and lost forward Wojtek Wolski early in the game to an upper body injury.  

There hype has been deafening in the days leading up to this series, as these two rivals both play a strong physical game. 

People still remember the Bloodbath in Hockeytown and the subsequent games that have made the Wings-Avs rivalry one of the fiercest in all of sports from 1996-2002. 

While the faces of Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Darren McCarty, Kris Draper and Nicklas Lidstrom are still here, the rivalry has been nothing but a smoldering spark as of late—the players still remember the old days, but they are no more concerned about those days as they are of a meteor hitting the Joe.

That said, this series should still be as entertaining as any—The Wings took game 1, but not the way they wanted to. Many believe that the Avs could have played the role of spoiler, but the injuries limited what they could do on the ice. 

With that said, game 2 and the rest of the series should be a "no-misser" as both teams look to take a renewed rivalry to the next step.