Young line masters Flames

Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 6, 2007 at midnight

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There are no plausible explanations for the manner in which the Avalanche has been able to handle the Calgary Flames.

Not that the Avalanche was looking for any after knocking off the Northwest Division rivals for the seventh consecutive time, 4-1 Monday at the Pepsi Center.

"I didn’t even know that," said Milan Hejduk, who had assists on the Avalanche’s final three goals. "That’s a pretty good streak."

The Avalanche played perhaps its most complete game of the season, keeping the pressure on Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff before he was pulled midway through the third period after giving up Paul Stastny’s second goal of the night.

Meanwhile, the Avalanche limited the Flames’ scoring chances, took just one minor penalty and got another solid performance from goalie Jose Theodore, who is 3-0 against Calgary this season and has stopped 88 of 93 shots in winning three starts in a row.

"I thought, in all aspects, our game was very strong," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We generated a lot, had the puck a lot and got something from all the lines. We were looking to improve our overall team game and get contributions from everybody, and we got that across the board."

The Avalanche got a huge game from the Wojtek Wolski- Stastny-Hejduk line, which combined for three goals and five assists.

"We have good chemistry and we were moving well," said Stastny, whose two third-period goals were his first in 10 games. "We all wanted the puck and battled down low. I think we’re effective when we move around and keep our feet moving, and that’s what we did."

Wolski, who has five goals and seven assists in the past 10 games, broke a 1-1 tie at 11:15 of the second period when he skated to the net to redirect Hejduk’s pass between Kiprusoff’s pads.

"We were really getting to the net, really getting in front of him, and that created a lot of opportunities," Wolski said. "The key is getting to the net and making sure guys are crashing the net. It’s great if you’re getting pucks to the net, but if you don’t have anyone in front it’s not going to do much."

The Avalanche scored all four of its goals within a few feet of Kiprusoff’s crease, and he made a number of big saves to keep the Flames in the game.

"He played really well for us," said Flames coach Mike Keenan, who replaced Kiprusoff with rookie Matt Keetley "to give him some playing time because I knew we weren’t going to come back and salvage the game at all."

Wolski had one goal and two assists, Stastny two goals and Hejduk three assists in his third game after sitting out five of six with a back ailment.

"The first couple games I didn’t feel that great," Hejduk said. "I felt like I had my legs back in this game. Sometimes it takes a while. Our line was clicking. We created some scoring chances and pucks were going in. It was a good feeling."

The Flames opened the scoring at 4:39 on their only power play of the game when Jarome Iginla knocked in Alex Tanguay’s shot from the left faceoff circle.

The Avalanche, now 4-for-26 on power plays in a six-game stretch, tied the score at 16:09. Andrew Brunette, with his first goal in six games, redirected Joe Sakic’s point shot into the net while Ryan Smyth was skating in front of Kiprusoff.

"We got a lot of people and pucks at the net," Quenneville said. "(Kiprusoff) made a couple of saves that I don’t know how he made — there were three or four of them — so it was nice to score early in the third."

Stastny gave the Avalanche a 3-1 cushion 45 seconds into the period, cashing in a pass from Wolski after being left unchecked in front.

The Avalanche kept the Flames at bay after that, making it relatively easy for Theodore, who finished with 23 saves for his fourth win in six decisions.

Quenneville didn’t sound ready to anoint anyone as his No.1 goalie yet, saying he’s happy with the Theodore/Peter Budaj tandem.

"We think our goaltending situation is healthy," Quenneville said. "Both guys going into the season were given the opportunity and both guys will probably continue to get an opportunity. We’ll see. It’s too early for us to make a clear decision on that. We’ll give both guys a chance."

sadowskir@RockyMountainNews.com

Calgary 1 0 0 — 1

Colorado 1 1 2 — 4

First period—1, Cal, Iginla 10 (Tanguay, Huselius), 4:39 (pp). 2, Col, Brunette 3 (Smyth, Sakic), 16:09 (pp). Penalties—Eriksson, Cal (hooking), 1:47; Svatos, Col, (hooking), 2:44; Conroy, Cal (unsportsmanlike conduct), 5:17; Regehr, Cal (slashing), 6:05; Conroy, Cal (hooking), 15:21; Tanguay, Cal (delay of game), 19:17.

Second period—3, Col, Wolski 6 (Hejduk, Sauer), 11:15. Penalties—Nystrom, Cal, major (fighting), 14:11; Laperriere, Col, major (fighting), 14:11; Sarich, Cal (hooking), 16:19; Parker, Col, misconduct, 20:00.

Third period—4, Col, Stastny 6 (Wolski, Hejduk), 0:45. 5, Col, Stastny 7 (Hejduk, Wolski), 10:12. Penalties—None.

Shots—Cal 5-10-9—24. Col 17-13-6—36. Power plays—Cal 1 of 1; Col 1 of 6. Goalies—Cal, Kiprusoff 6-6-3 (34 shots-30 saves), Keetley (10:12 third, 2-2). Col, Theodore 4-2-0 (24-23). A—15,655 (18,007). T— 2:22. Referees—Stephane Auger, Dan O’Halloran. Linesmen—Brad Lazarowich, Don Henderson.

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