Mirror Images on Display

The Detroit Red Wings were taken to the limit by the St. Louis Blues in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs because the Blues’ grinding, suffocating defensive style took them off their game, leaving them little room for their usual creative playmaking.

But in the Colorado Avalanche, the Red Wings meet a team that’s almost their twin. The Red Wings and the Avalanche, who ranked 1-2 in the conference and the NHL this season, rely on speed and finesse to score. Both also have a rugged defense that features one player (Colorado’s Sandis Ozolinsh and Detroit’s Paul Coffey) who can move up to provide an offensive spark.

“This will be more hockey,” Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said of the Western Conference finals, which begin today at Joe Louis Arena. “There won’t be so many dump-ins. They have a very similar team to our team, with a lot of skill.”

Said Colorado Coach Marc Crawford, who was an assistant to Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman at this season’s All-Star game: “It’s a pretty good bet there’s going to be more than one goal scored [today], given the offensive talent on both sides. It’s going to be exciting.”

Bowman successfully used center Sergei Fedorov in a defensive role against the Blues’ Wayne Gretzky in the final two games of that series. However, Bowman said he doesn’t plan to have anyone shadow Colorado’s Joe Sakic, who leads playoff scorers with 13 goals.

“You have to be aware of his foot speed and his skills, but we can’t change our game around,” Bowman said. “You can try denying him, [Peter] Forsberg and [Valeri] Kamensky space and the puck.”

Colorado right wing Claude Lemieux said he has forgotten the Avalanche’s 1-3 record against Detroit this season and 7-0 loss in their last visit, on March 22.

“I never look back to regular-season games and compare performances,” he said. “We’ve made an improvement of 30%-40% in our defensive play since then.”

DETROIT RED WINGS VS. COLORADO AVALANCHE

* Game 1 at Detroit:

Today, Noon, Channel 11

* Regular-season records: Detroit 62-13-7 (first in conference); Colorado 47-25-10 (second).

* Leading scorers: Detroit--Sergei Fedorov 39-68--107; Colorado--Joe Sakic 51-69--120.

* Leading playoff scorers: Detroit--Steve Yzerman 8-9--17; Colorado--Sakic 13-6--19.

* Team goals-against averages: Detroit--2.19 (first); Colorado 2.89 (ninth).

* Playoff goals-against averages: Detroit--1.94 (first); Colorado--2.33 (fourth).

* Power play: Detroit--21.3% (third); Colorado--21.3% (second).

* Playoff power play: Detroit--18.8% (sixth); Colorado--19.1% (fifth).

* Penalty killing: Detroit--88.3% (first); Colorado--83.8% (seventh).

* Playoff penalty killing: Detroit--90.4% (second); Colorado--84.4% (sixth).

* How they advanced: Detroit--Defeated Winnipeg, 4-2 and St. Louis, 4-3. Colorado--Defeated Vancouver, 4-2, and Chicago, 4-2.

* Esoteric facts: Detroit was 5-0 against goalie Patrick Roy this season, including an 11-1 rout Dec. 2 in Roy’s last game with Montreal before he was traded to Colorado. His goals-against average against Detroit was 5.41. . . . Colorado’s Sandis Ozolinsh is the top playoff scorer among defensemen with three goals and 13 points.

* Keys: Did the Red Wings learn the value of persistence and backing their skill with hard work when the Blues pushed them to the brink of elimination? The Red Wings were responding to the Blues’ tactics instead of setting the tone, and Bowman didn’t break up the ineffective Fedorov-Vyacheslav Kozlov-Igor Larionov line until Game 6. Fedorov has only one goal and Keith Primeau (one goal) has struggled. Steve Yzerman is playing superbly, but he needs help. Grinders Kris Draper (three goals), Tim Taylor and Martin Lapointe could be vital, but a bruised shoulder left Draper questionable today. The Red Wings, battered on defense, will miss the steady Bob Rouse (broken bone above his eye).

The Avalanche is hitting stride. The line of Kamensky, Forsberg and Lemieux has 40 points to complement Sakic’s feats, and Scott Young and Adam Deadmarsh also pose threats with their speed and puckhandling. Ozolinsh had an impressive series against Chicago and Uwe Krupp has regained his timing after returning from knee surgery. Colorado’s depth is matched by its experience. It has two MVPs from Stanley Cup-winning teams in Roy, who won with the 1986 and 1993 Canadiens, and Lemieux, of the 1995 New Jersey Devils. And Roy (2.34 goals-against average) has been getting help from his defense. Colorado in seven.