The Detroit Red Wings' ability to swarm, soar and score appear to have melted the Colorado Avalanche's resolve. Using a lethal combination of puck possession, speed, skill and smarts, the Motown magicians won the first three games of their series against Colorado to sit on the edge of a four-game whitewash. Meanwhile, in the vast expanse of Texas, the Dallas Stars shone brightly, taking the bite out of the San Jose Sharks by winning the battles in the corners, between the pipes and on the scoreboard. With three straight wins already tucked into the record books, the Stars sit one win away from an unlikely series sweep. This is the week that was in the wild, wild West.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Colorado Avalanche

Season Series: Detroit won all four meetings

The Colorado Avalanche, who were able to overachieve and overcome a plethora of injuries during the 82-game schedule, have been unable to translate that regular-season success into post-season victories. Forced to face the mighty Motown warriors from Detroit without the services of Peter Forsberg, Scott Hannan, Wojtek Wolski and Paul Stastny for all or part of the series may be a mountain slide too steep for the Avalanche to climb. Combine those injuries with suspect goaltending from Avalanche netminder Jose Theodore, a ferocious flurry of firepower from Detroit winger Johan Franzen and the patient, persistent pressure exerted by the Red Wing attackers, and you have the blueprint for a commanding 3-0 lead in games for Detroit.

In game one, Franzen (7g, 3a) scored a pair of goals, added an assist and led the club with five shots-on-goal as Detroit jumped to a 4-1 lead before holding on to nail down a 4-3 triumph in the series lid-lifter. Brian Rafalski (1g, 6a) added a brace of helpers for the Motown while putting in 23 minutes of quality playing time along the blueline. Game 2 belonged to Franzen again, as the super Swede exploded for his first postseason hat-trick to ignite a convincing 5-1 firestorm for the Red Wings. Henrik Zetterberg (4g, 3a) fired a team-high 10 shots at the Colorado cage, connecting for a goal and an assist, while Niklas Kronvall (8a) added a pair of helpers to pace the Wings' romp.

Franzen continued his scoring dramatics in game three, scoring his sixth goal of the series to jettison Detroit to a 4-3 win over the persistent, but unproductive, Avalanche. Peter Forsberg returned to the lineup for Colorado, but his presence wasn't enough to propel his mates to a much-needed win. Pavel Datsyuk (5g, 5a) slipped a pair of pucks past beleaguered Colorado cage cop Jose Theordore while Zetterberg added his fourth postseason marker of the playoffs.

Fantasy Footnotes: Chris Osgood, who led the NHL with a miniscule 2.09 goals-against-average, tops all postseason crease keepers with a 1.44 GAA.

Fantasy Fixtures: While Peter Forsberg and Scott Hannan returned to the Avalanche lineup for game three, Paul Stastny left the game with an undetermined injury.

Fantasy Fact: Joe Sakic recorded two assists in game three to vault ahead of Steve Yzerman into seventh place on the all-time playoff points leader board.


San Jose Sharks vs. Dallas Stars

Season Series: Dallas and San Jose split their eight meetings

Following the same script of determination, dedication and discipline that sent the Anaheim Ducks waddling back home to their pond, the Dallas Stars have astounded scribes and cynics alike by storming to a 3-0 lead in games over the suddenly toothless San Jose Sharks. Bolstered by the return of rearguard regulator Sergei Zubov, steadied by the patient, picture-perfect goaltending of Marty Turco and propelled by an opportunistic offensive attack, the Stars pushed the Sharks to the edge of elimination with a 2-1 overtime victory in game three on Tuesday night. San Jose, who have lost almost as many games in three weeks as they did in the last three months of the regular campaign, were physically timid and mentally fatigued in the first two games of their tussle with the Stars. Brenden Morrow was the offensive hero for Dallas in game one, scoring a brace of goals, including the extra-session winner, as Dallas stole home ice advantage away from the Sharks with a 3-2 victory in the series opener. Stephane Robidas continued to be a dominant force at both ends the rink, delivering a quintet of solid body-checks, blocking a pair of shots, and setting up Morrow's game-winning tally while playing a team-high 27 minutes.

A third-period collapse that saw Dallas pound four pucks past Sharks crease cop Evgeni Nobokov was the measure of meaning in the second tilt of the series. Niklas Hagman scored a pair of goals to stir the Stars while Mike Modano and Brad Richards, who collected four points in the contest, keyed the Dallas domination of the third stanza with salvos early in the period. Marty Turco was tremendous between the pipes, turning aside 29 of the 31 pucks fired his way. Brenden Morrow, who contributed an assist to compliment the five-goal Dallas barrage, led the team in hits (5), shots-on-goal (7) and ice-time (23:28). San Jose, who appeared to be on the verge of tying the series after taking a 2-1 lead into the dressing room after 40 minutes of play, actually out-hit (39-21) and out-shot (31-26) the Stars in the contest, but still skated away on the losing end of a 5-2 score.

San Jose had a bit more bark in their bite in game three, but once again defensive lapses, neutral zone giveaways and lackluster man-on-man coverage proved to be their downfall. Despite those negative marks on their ledger, the Sharks went into the extra session a single shot away from getting back in the series. However, four minutes into overtime, Mike Ribiero, who led the Stars in face-offs wins with nine, won a key draw in the Sharks zone and feathered a pass to Mattias Norstrom. The graybeard bluleliner whipped a wrister past a screened Nobokov to seal the deal and push the Sharks to the brink of extinction.

Fantasy Footnotes: Niklas Hagman's penalty shot in the third period of Game 3 was the first for the Stars in the postseason since the team moved to Dallas.

Fantasy Fixtures: Philippe Boucher remains on the shelf for the Stars while Patrick Rissmiller is relegated to the press box for the Sharks.

Fantasy Fact: The big guns that were so effective in defusing the Flames in Round 1 have been muted by the Stars' aggressive coverage. Joe Thornton (0g, 1a), Ryane Clowe (0g, 0a) and Brian Campbell (0g, 2a) have been neutralized by a tenacious Dallas D.