DENVER, May 4 (UPI) -- Vincent Damphousse had his fifth goal of the series Tuesday as San Jose reached the Western finals for the first time with a 3-1 win over Colorado.
Second-seeded San Jose made good on its third crack at eliminating Colorado, which was trying to become the third team in NHL history to win a best-of-seven series after dropping the first three games.
Back home after posting consecutive overtime victories, the Avalanche mustered just two shots in the first period. The second was even worse for Colorado as the Sharks scored three times in a span of just over 10 1/2 minutes.
Damphousse put San Jose in front at the 94-second mark. Rookie Marcel Goc made it 2-0 at 8:59. Jonathan Cheechoo capped the outburst at 12:03, finishing off a 2-on-1.
Milan Hejduk spoiled Evgeni Nabokov's shutout bid with 2:26 to go.
