YZERMAN BIG ON BIRTHDAY

RANFORD EARNS SHUTOUT IN GOAL AS RED WINGS GO 2 UP

Author: P-I NEWS SERVICES

Dateline: DENVER

Article Text:

On his 34th birthday, Steve Yzerman lit two candles - at the expense of Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy.

Yzerman scored two goals and Bill Ranford gained his fourth career playoff shutout as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Avalanche 4-0 yesterday to take a 2-0 series lead.

Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference semifinal are tomorrow and Thursday in Detroit.

``I have spent better birthdays,'' Yzerman said teasingly, ``but I won't tell you what happened. It wasn't with a bunch of sports reporters.''

In a game featuring the sort of fierce hitting that has come to define this rivalry, the Red Wings stayed unbeaten in these playoffs. They registered their sixth straight playoff victory and 11th straight since last year's postseason.

Detroit, seeking a third consecutive Stanley Cup title, gave coach Scotty Bowman his 200th career playoff win - extending his NHL record.

Bowman, who entered this year's playoffs with 194 wins, said, ``I knew if we won six games this year, I'd feel very good. If not, I'd feel very bad. Somebody reminded me before the playoffs, but that's the only time I've thought about it. I worry more about the 111 losses.''

Yzerman , the Red Wings' captain, scored in each of the first two periods, giving him eight goals in the playoffs to equal a career high. Nicklas Lidstrom and Wendel Clark added power-play goals in the final period.

Ranford, the 1990 NHL playoff MVP with Edmonton, started his second straight game in goal in place of the injured Chris Osgood, who is out with a sprained right knee. He had 28 saves, preserving his shutout with a diving save to rob Peter Forsberg late in the first period and with back-to-back stops on Theo Fleury and Sylvain Lefebvre in the third.

Yzerman chided the media for dismissing Ranford, a late-season acquisition from Tampa Bay.

``You've got to remember that this guy has won a couple of Cups,'' Yzerman said. ``He is a Conn Smythe winner. Just because he hasn't been in the playoffs in a couple of years, you guys sound like you are amazed. He is a great, quality goaltender.''

Ranford insisted he was ``lucky. The guys played unbelievably in front of me. There were times when I didn't see the puck, and they were able to block it out for me. That first power-play goal we got in the third period took the wind out of their sails.''

Roy had 33 saves.

In what could be the final hockey game at McNichols Arena - which will be replaced by the new Pepsi Center next fall - the Avalanche generated few serious scoring chances and again failed to get production from its third and fourth lines.

Since scoring two goals in the first period of Game 1, the Avalanche's scoreless streak has extended to 111 minutes, 44 seconds.