Sakic’s moves paying off for the Avalanche

The stat sheet won’t reflect this: Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic actually had a pair of assists on those two goals scored in a 15-second window.

The goal spurt by Artturi Lehkonen and Josh Manson in Game 2’s 4-0 win over the Oilers illustrated the impactful trade deadline deals orchestrated by Sakic. So far in the postseason, five of the team’s 10 game-winning goals have been courtesy of their newest additions.

Sakic has steadily built this squad into a mirror image of the championship teams the Hall of Famer played on with the Avs — fast-flying forwards and dynamic defensemen who are capable of playing any style. The Avs are up 2-0 on the Oilers in the Western Conference finals with, heading to Edmonton for Game 3 on Saturday.

“One of the best in the business,” Oilers front-office executive Ken Holland said of his GM counterpart before the series.

Those late moves are coming through in all sorts of ways. Like Lehkonen, who was brought in from the Canadiens and has five goals in these playoffs. Or Manson, the defenseman acquired from the Ducks who scored the OT winner to open the Blues series. Or forward Andrew Cogliano, picked up in a deal with the Sharks, who didn’t score over 18 games with the Avs in the regular season but has two game-winning goals in the postseason.

Sakic had to mortgage a portion of the future for a chance to win now.

Golf: Cameron Smith has a one-shot lead over Denny McCarthy and K.H. Lee at Memorial thanks a 3-under 69 on Friday to go along with 67 on Thursday ... Jin Young Ko played the final five holes in 3 under to pull within three shots of second-round Minjee Lee and Mina Harigae at the U.S. Women’s Open. Tennis: Serena and Venus Williams did not appear on the women’s singles entry list released by Wimbledon on Friday. It is possible that either player could request a wild-card invitation to the Grand Slam tournament.