Taylor recalls ill will for Avs

TAMPA -- Remember the vicious rivalry between the Avalanche and the Red Wings; the one that began with Colorado's Claude Lemieux pasting Kris Draper into the boards during the 1996 playoffs and included wild, goalie-inclusive brawls the next two seasons?

Tim Taylor does. The Lightning center played for Detroit from 1993-97, and said the old emotions still simmer.

"Even after I left Detroit I just learned to hate Colorado so much because of that whole thing," Taylor said before Friday's 4-3 win against the Avalanche.

"It was not a thing I ever experienced before and nothing I've experienced since; that hatred toward another team, the absolute wanting to hurt the players you hit. That's what it was like."

Taylor vividly remembers Draper lying on a table in the trainer's room being stitched after Lemieux crushed him against the boards in Game 6 of the '96 West final. Draper sustained a concussion, a broken nose, a fractured jaw and facial cuts requiring 30 stitches.

"They stitched Drapes up on the table while he was out cold," Taylor said.

That led to a brawl in March 1997 in which Darren McCarty beat up Lemieux and Colorado goalie Patrick Roy fought counterpart Mike Vernon. Another brawl the next season featured Roy and Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood.

"It was very intense for the three years I was there, very intense," Taylor said.

Taylor said emotions had cooled, but, "It's still there as a team you don't like."

FEASTER BEWARE: Coach John Tortorella said general manager Jay Feaster has to walk a fine line when considering trades before Tuesday's trade deadline.

"You're always concerned about chemistry. We're in the (playoff) hunt, but we have to look to where we're going to be happening in the future," Tortorella said.

That means being careful not to give up too much for short-term gain.

"We're trying to build a foundation so we're here for a while," he said. "You don't want to mortgage the future."

BY THE NUMBERS: Dan Boyle has 13 goals and 37 assists. He and Roman Hamrlik are the only Lightning defensemen to reach 50 points in a season. ... It was Nikolai Khabibulin's 50th win for the Lightning and 25th this season. Only Daren Puppa (29 wins in 1995-96) had has more wins in a season for Tampa Bay. ... Khabibulin had an assist, his third of the season, tying Vancouver's Dan Cloutier for the league lead among goalies. ... Dave Andreychuk had his 12th power-play goal of the season, extending his league record to 257.

ODDS AND ENDS: Left wing Andre Roy and defenseman Darren Rumble were healthy scratches. ... Colorado defenseman Adam Foote (hamstring) was scratched.