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Avalanche dealt road loss again

Aaron J. Lopez

Published December 1, 2007 at 12:45 a.m.

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In traditional circles, cotton is the gift of choice when celebrating a second anniversary. The modern list calls for china.

Joe Thornton went a different route Friday night, opting for frozen rubber and nylon.

On the two-year anniversary of the cross-continental trade that sent him from Boston to San Jose, Thornton scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Sharks to a 3-2 victory over the Avalanche.

Evgeni Nabokov stopped 18 shots to win for only the sixth time in 18 career games against Colorado, which continued to struggle away from the Pepsi Center.

The Avalanche fell to 3-8-1 on the road this season and has been outscored 41-22.

Peter Budaj, making his second consecutive start in goal for Colorado, finished with 26 saves. His strong play throughout the game prevented the Sharks from turning things into a blowout.

Two nights after outshooting the Edmonton Oilers 43-13, the Avalanche surrendered 13 shots in the game's first 21 minutes, 10 seconds.

San Jose's 14th shot of the game came off Thornton's stick and gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead 4:42 into the second period, leaving the Avalanche in desperate need of a jump start.

The jumper cables arrived in an unconventional way when Milan Hejduk converted a two-on-one rush with Paul Stastny for a short-handed goal at 16:25 of the second.

The play was set up when San -Jose defenseman Craig Rivet allowed the puck to trickle past him near the blue line.

The Sharks regained the momentum 1:37 later when Thornton's centering pass bounced off the stick of Colorado defenseman John-Mi-chael Liles, into the skate of San Jose forward Mike Grier and into the net.

A wild 3 minutes came to a close when Andrew Brunette scored a power-play goal for Colorado with 29 seconds left in the period.

Brunette's first goal in 10 games came when his shot from behind the goal line bounced off the skate of Sharks defenseman Kyle McLaren and into the net.

Colorado had an opportunity to tie the score when Christian Ehrhoff was called for interference with 4:54 remaining, but the ensuing power play lasted only 41 seconds as Brett Clark was whistled for tripping Thornton deep in the Avalanche zone.

The game was the first in San Jose for Colorado defenseman Scott Hannan since he left as a free agent after eight seasons with the Sharks.

His return was met mostly with ambivalence until things started getting chippy in the third period. Boos rained down upon Hannan whenever he handled the puck in the game's final 10 minutes.

Hannan played a solid game, assisting on Hejduk's goal and finishing with a plus-1 rating in 24:35 of ice time.

The Sharks, expected to be one of the top contenders in the Western Conference, have been maligned for their mediocrity in the season's first two months and they played like they had something to prove in the first period.

Thornton zipped a shot between Budaj's pads 1:52 into the game to give San Jose a quick 1-0 lead. The goal came on a power play set up when Thornton drew a holding call against Avalanche forward Jaroslav Hlinka 46 seconds after the opening faceoff.

Colorado had a golden opportunity to tie when consecutive penalties on Jeremy Roenick and McLaren gave the Avalanche a 64-second, five-on-three advantage.

The Avalanche managed only one shot during the two-man advantage, bringing a rousing ovation from the crowd, and the Sharks continued to apply pressure throughout the first 20 minutes.

At one point late in the period, San Jose held a 10-2 advantage in shots, and only some strong play by Budaj prevented the Sharks from enjoying a comfortable lead entering the first intermission.

Colorado played without Marek Svatos, who shares the team lead with nine goals. Svatos suffered a groin injury Wednesday and is uncertain whether he will return for tonight's game at Los Angeles.

Colorado0 2 0 - 2

San Jose1 2 0 - 3

First period - 1, SJ, Thornton 10 (Michalek), 1:52 (pp). Penalties - Hlinka, Col, (holding), :46; Roenick, SJ (high-sticking), 3:17; McLaren, SJ (tripping), 4:13; Stastny, Col, (tripping), 7:36.

Second period - 2, SJ, Thornton 11 (Michalek, Ozolinsh), 4:42 (pp). 3, Col, Hejduk 8 (Stastny, Hannan), 16:25 (sh). 4, SJ, Grier 3 (Thornton, McLaren), 18:02. 5, Col, Brunette 4 (Stastny, Sakic), 19:31 (pp). Penalties - Sakic, Col, (slashing), 4:16; Rissmiller, SJ (closing hand on puck), 4:50; Finger, Col, (hooking), 15:39; Ehrhoff, SJ (interference), 19:23.

Third period - None. Penalties - Wolski, Col, (roughing), 8:32; Rissmiller, SJ (roughing), 8:32; Ehrhoff, SJ (interference), 15:06; Clark, Col, (tripping), 15:48.

Shots - Col 7-7-6 - 20. SJ 10-13-6 - 29. Power plays - Col 1 of 5; SJ 2 of 5. Goalies - Col, Budaj 9-5-0 (29 shots-26 saves). SJ, Nabokov 12-8-4 (20-18).

A - 17,496 (17,496). T - 2:21. Referees - Brad Meier, Dan O'Rourke. Linesmen - Darren Gibbs, Mark Wheler.

Avalanche at Kings

* When: 8:30 MST tonight.

* Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles.

* TV/radio: Altitude; KKFN-AM (950).

* Leading scorers

Colo. (13-10-1) G A Pts.

C Paul Stastny 9 20 29

C Joe Sakic 7 15 22

LW Wojtek Wolski 8 9 17

RW A.Brunette 4 13 17

RW Milan Hejduk 8 8 16

Coach:

Joel Quenneville

L.A. (10-13-1) G A Pts.

C Anze Kopitar 10 11 21

C M. Cammalleri 12 8 20

LW A. Frolov 4 16 20

LW Dustin Brown 10 7 17

D L. Visnovsky 1 14 15

Coach:

Marc Crawford * Injuries: Colorado - RW Marek Svatos (groin) is day to day; W Ian Laperriere (knee) and D Jordan Leopold (wrist surgery) are on injured reserve. Los Angeles - Frolov (groin) and Cammalleri (groin) are questionable; LW Scott Thornton (sternum) is on injured reserve.

* Sidelight: It will be a junk-food junkie's paradise in the upper level of the Staples Center. Tonight is a designated all-you-can-eat night in the 300 level. The promotion includes unlimited hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn and soda with the purchase of a $35 to $43 ticket.

* Notes: With Colorado playing its first set of back-to-back games since Oct. 12-13, goalie Jose Theodore could be back in net tonight. . . . Los Angeles has not played since Wednesday. . . . The Kings are 6-7 at home this season. . . . Because of injuries to Frolov and Cammalleri, former Avalanche defenseman Jon Klemm played forward for the Kings on Wednesday. . . . Svatos said he injured his groin on the last shift of Wednesday's game against Edmonton but did not believe it will keep him out long. . . . The Avalanche is 3-8-3 at the Staples Center in the past seven seasons. . . . Kings defenseman Jaroslav Modry missed Wednesday's game to be with his ill father in the Czech Republic. He was expected to return to Los Angeles on Friday night. . . . Los Angeles is 3-11-1 when allowing at least three goals.

NUMBERS GAME

23consecutive power plays on the road without a goal for Colorado before Andrew Brunette scored with 29 seconds left in the second period Friday night against the San Jose Sharks.

HENSICK DEBUT

More than seven hours before game time Friday, rookie forward T.J. Hensick paced outside the Avalanche dressing room like an expectant father.

Instead of joining his new teammates on the ice for the morning skatearound, the 21-year-old Hensick was resigned to waiting for his equipment to arrive from Toronto.

"It's going to be a much faster game and a little more physical," he said.

"It would have been good to get out there for a little skate, but I can't, so I've got to make the best of it."

Hensick's equipment arrived in time for the game and he made his NHL debut at right wing on a line with center Tyler Arnason and left wing Ryan Smyth.

In the stands for the game were Tim and Meg Hensick, who flew from Detroit to San Jose on Friday.

"My dad always said he'd be there (for Hensick's first NHL game) no matter where it was," T.J. Hensick added.

"It's about as far as you can get from Michigan."

NO LONGER RIVALS

Hensick was a college star at Michigan while Colorado teammate John-Michael Liles was drafted out of Michigan State.

Can the two coexist?

"I think we'll be all right," Hensick said with a smile. "He's a good guy. He helped me out during preseason."

HE SAID IT

"How does what feel? The ice? Feels good."

Joe Sakic, Avalanche captain, jokingly responding to a question about his sore groin after the morning skate Friday. Sakic, 38, played against San Jose, extending his consecutive-games streak to 232.

Aaron J. Lopez

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