It's not a repeat for winning Avs

Colorado clamps down on defense in third period

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 8, 2007 at 12:45 a.m.

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Photo by David Zalubowski / Associated Press

Avalanche goalie Jose Theodore blocks a shot by Flyers right wing Steve Downie on Friday night at the Pepsi Center. Theodore made 28 saves in the Avalanche's win.

Photo by Steve Dykes / Getty Images

Milan Hejduk is caught in a bind while trying to take a shot against Flyers goaltender Martin Biron during the first period Friday at the Pepsi Center. Joffrey Lupul applies pressure on Hejduk, who scored the winning goal.

Few words needed to be spoken in the locker room during the second-period intermission Friday night before the Avalanche returned to the ice.

Forty-eight hours after a stunning third-period meltdown in Columbus cost the team two valuable points in the standings, the Avalanche made amends before a Pepsi Center crowd of 16,312 with a 2-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers.

"Everybody knew what happened in Columbus," right wing Milan Hejduk said. "It shouldn't happen and it can't happen."

This time, it didn't happen, after Hejduk broke a 1-1 tie with a rare Avalanche power-play goal, with 2.9 seconds remaining in the second period.

"After the game in Columbus, we were kind of down," he said. "These points are really big for us. We needed them and we got it done."

The Avalanche limited the Flyers to seven shots during the final 20 minutes and goalie Jose Theodore stopped them all.

"It was a great response across the board," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We did what we had to do. The third period, even though we gave up some chances, I still thought we did a lot of good things. It was a nice rebound from a disappointing loss."

Theodore finished with 28 saves for his second win in the past three starts, but it was only the Avalanche's fourth victory in 11 games since Nov. 16.

"I was ready for that game," said Theodore, whose best stop came in the second period when he turned back Mike Richards' short-handed breakaway after an Avalanche giveaway.

"We played really well. Our focus was playing well defensively. For myself, I saw the puck well.

"We needed to bounce back. That's the good thing about hockey. You play almost every other day and when you do have a bad game and lose big points, you can bounce back right away, and that's exactly what we did. I'm proud of the way the guys responded."

It was one of the more entertaining games the Avalanche has played in a while, perhaps because players were so excited to meet an opponent other than the usual Northwest Division teams that dominated the early portion of the schedule.

"It's always fun games against the Flyers," said Theodore, who faced them on plenty of occasions during his time in Montreal.

"They always play with a lot of intensity and they shoot a lot of pucks. The level of play was really good on both sides and the intensity was great."

Said Quenneville: "It was fun to be a part of it. The bench was lively, as was the game. It was fun, enjoyable."

The Flyers hadn't visited Denver since Dec. 27, 2003.

It hadn't been quite that long since the Avalanche scored a power-play goal, though it might have seemed that way.

The Avalanche failed to convert on its first three power plays Friday, running the team's drought with the man advantage to 3-for-45 during an 11-game stretch, before Hejduk beat goalie Martin Biron to the far side with a shot from the lower portion of the right circle.

Ryan Smyth, who has seven points (two goals, five assists) in the past four games, made a backhanded pass from behind the net to Hejduk, whose shot hit Flyers forward Jeff Carter's stick and caromed into the net.

"It was a much-needed power-play goal for us," said Hejduk, who has collected four goals and four assists in a six-game point-scoring streak. "Ryan made a great play behind the net and I was open in the slot. I just fired and it went in."

The goal, coming on a power play and as late as it did, gave the whole team a huge lift.

"We were pressing late in the dying seconds there," Smyth said. "We somehow got it towards the net and it was a great shot. Any time that happens, it's big. It gives a team a little momentum going into the third."

The Flyers had tied the score on Daniel Briere's power-play goal at 17:55.

Thirteen seconds were left on Avalanche defenseman Brett Clark's hooking penalty when Briere took a pass from Kimmo Timonen and shot the puck inside the left post.

Avalanche left wing Jaroslav Hlinka started the scoring at 7:26 with a shot from the right circle that sailed by Biron's left arm after the Avalanche forced a turnover.

"It was just a lucky shot," Hlinka said. "I just tried to hit the net and it went in."

Avalanche 2, Flyers 1

Philadelphia0 1 0 - 1

Colorado0 2 0 - 2

First period - None. Penalties - Guite, Col, (holding), 3:45; Col bench, served by McCormick (too many men), 12:21; Kapanen, Phi (hooking), 15:44.

Second period - 1, Col, Hlinka 4 (Brunette, Arnason), 7:26. 2, Phi, Briere 13 (Timonen, Richards), 17:55 (pp). 3, Col, Hejduk 10 (Smyth, Stastny), 19:57 (pp). Penalties - Hartnell, Phi (goalie interference), 1:25; Dowd, Phi (hooking), 2:56; Hannan, Col, (holding), 7:50; Hejduk, Col, (delay of game), 9:14; Clark, Col, (hooking), 16:08; Timonen, Phi (hooking), 19:40.

Third period - None. Penalty - Fitzpatrick, Phi (delay of game), 5:39.

Shots - Phi 7-15-7 - 29. Col 13-9-10 - 32. Power plays - Phi 1 of 5; Col 1 of 5. Goalies - Phi, Biron 12-8-2 (32 shots-30 saves). Col, Theodore 6-6-1 (29-28). A - 16,312 (18,007). T - 2:20. Referees - Dan O'Halloran, Brad Watson. Linesmen - Jay Sharrers, Greg Devorski.

sadowskir@RockyMountainNews.com

NUMBERS GAME

10shots on goal and six official hits for the Avalanche's fourth line of Brad Richardson, Ben Guite and Cody McCormick.

LAPERRIERE OUT AGAIN

The Avalanche played without forward Ian Laperriere, who was scratched because of a sore right knee. Laperriere played Wednesday in Columbus after being activated from the injured reserve list. He missed the previous nine games because of a sprained right knee, and coach Joel Quenneville wasn't sure if Laperriere would be able to practice today.

"He tweaked his knee the other day," Quenneville said. "It's not serious. I think it's just part of the healing process. We'll have a clearer idea if he skates."

PROSPECTS ON U.S. TEAM

Three Avalanche prospects have been selected to play in the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5. Center Mike Carman and defenseman Kevin Montgomery will play for the U.S., and forward Johan Alcen will play for Sweden.

Carman, a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, had nine goals and 11 assists in 41 games as a freshman but was academically ineligible for the first semester this year. He'll resume playing for the Gophers after the tournament.

Montgomery is playing for the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League, where he has four goals and 17 assists in 20 games. Alcen had 17 goals and 29 assists in 26 games last season for Brynas in the Swedish Junior League.

HE SAID IT

"It's fun to see a different kind of team, a different kind of style. It's fun to see different teams."

Jose Theodore, Avalanche goalie, on the rare game against the Flyers.

Rick Sadowski

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