Red Wings show why they're league's best

Aaron J. Lopez

Friday, December 28, 2007

Evan Semon / The The Rocky

The Avalanche's Ben Guite and Detroit's Derek Meech (14) get tangled up and fall to the ice during the third period of Detroit's win Thursday at the Pepsi Center.

Evan Semon / The Rocky

Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek makes a save during the third period Thursday. Hasek finished with 22 saves.

One look at the rosters and it is clear the Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry is a 5 o'clock shadow of its former self.

Of the 40 players who suited up Thursday night at the Pepsi Center, only five have been around long enough to remember the nastiness in its full glory back in the mid-to-late 1990s.

That doesn't mean Colorado and Detroit still can't put on a pretty good show.

Proving that people will drive through a near-blizzard to watch the Avalanche and Red Wings, a lively sellout crowd was treated to two-plus hours of fast-paced entertainment.

In the end, two goals by Valtteri Filppula, 22 saves by Dominik Hasek and three missed power- play chances were too much for the Avalanche to overcome in a 4-2 loss to the Red Wings.

"Maybe it's a different kind of war, but certainly we want to win," Avalanche coach Joel Quenne ville said. "I thought we played a great game. It's disappointing, certainly. We did everything we wanted to do except win."

Considering the Red Wings are nearly halfway to another Presidents' Trophy as the league's top team, the Avalanche needed a near-perfect game if it wanted to come away with two points.

Falling behind 2-0 didn't help, but the Avalanche clawed back into a tie early in the second period only to see Jiri Hudler score what proved to be the winner less than five minutes later to help Detroit improve to 13-1-1 in its past 15 games.

"They're very skilled, very creative," Avalanche forward Ryan Smyth said. "We got behind the eight-ball and that hurt us a bit. I thought it was a pretty good hockey game right to the bitter end."

Bitter used to be a polite adjective for a rivalry that took center stage from 1996 to 2000.

Milan Hejduk and Joe Sakic are the only Avalanche players remaining from that era, while Kris Draper, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Osgood are the holdovers from Detroit.

With Sakic sidelined by an injury, the Avalanche did its best to keep up with the modern Red Wings, only to see its home winning streak snapped at five.

"I don't think you ever feel good when you lose the game," goalie Peter Budaj said. "Guys played great and really hard, but you never feel good when you lose."

Budaj, starting for the seventh game in a row, struggled to control rebounds early but regrouped to finish with 25 saves.

Hasek, who has won 16 of 28 starts against the Avalanche, faced only three shots in the third period but came up with big saves when necessary.

"We played very smart defensively," Hasek said. "We didn't give them too many chances. I didn't have to make too many great saves."

Trailing 2-1 after one period, the Avalanche tied the score 5:56 into the second when Marek Svatos knocked in a rebound.

With the crowd buzzing and the momentum in Colorado's favor, Detroit regained the lead when Hudler beat Budaj with a strong slap shot from the middle of the right faceoff circle at the 11-minute mark.

"I just closed my eyes and shot the puck," Hudler said. "This is the spot I like to shoot from. I'm glad it went in."

Well aware that Detroit boasts the league's top power play, Colorado did a good job of staying disciplined, taking only one penalty all game.

The Avalanche, though, failed to capitalize on three Red Wings penalties, including a tripping minor on Lidstrom with 3:58 remaining. Colorado did not manage a shot on goal on the final power play, but John-Michael Liles missed wide right on a blast from the slot.

"We had some good chances in the third," Quenneville said. "They either got their stick on them or we missed the net to get the equalizer. None better than Johnny's there at the end."

The Red Wings, 24 hours removed from a 5-0 road win against St. Louis, threatened to snowblow the Avalanche early.

Filppula, who had two goals against the Blues, continued his scoring tear when he scored twice in a 4:09 span of the first period to give Detroit a 2-0 lead.

Rookie Cody McLeod gave the Avalanche a huge lift when he scored his first career NHL goal with 1:23 left before the first intermission. The goal came after McLeod intercepted an ill-advised crossing pass by Brian Rafalski in the Detroit zone.

ETC.: Smyth returned to the lineup after missing three games with a mysterious neck injury. . . . Colorado forward Brad Richardson also was back on the ice after missing five games with a shoulder injury.

Red Wings 4, Avalanche 2

Detroit2 1 1 - 4

Colorado1 1 0 - 2

First period - 1, Det, Filppula 12 (Kronwall), 12:56. 2, Det, Filppula 13 (Kronwall, Samuelsson), 17:05. 3, Col, McLeod 1, 18:37. Penalties - Franzen, Det (slashing), 5:56; Ellis, Det (hooking), 13:18.

Second period - 4, Col, Svatos 13 (Hlinka, Finger), 5:56. 5, Det, Hudler 10 (Draper, Lebda), 11:00. Penalties - None.

Third period - 6, Det, Samuelsson 5 (Rafalski), 19:49 (en). Penalties - Lebda, Det (interference), 0:30; Richardson, Col, (high-sticking), 11:30; Lidstrom, Det (tripping), 16:02.

Shots - Det 10-11-8 - 29. Col 12-9-3 - 24. Power plays - Det 0 of 1; Col 0 of 4. Goalies - Det, Hasek 12-5-2 (24 shots-22 saves). Col, Budaj 14-7-1 (28-25). A - 18,007 (18,007). T - 2:17. Referees - Dan O'Rourke, Dennis LaRue. Linesmen - Brad Lazaro wich, Jonny Murray.

lopezaa@RockyMountainNews.com

NUMBERS GAME

1 penalty for the Avalanche in Thursday night's 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The Avalanche is is the least-penalized team in the NHL and averages only 10.4 penalty minutes per game - also the lowest mark in the league.

UNINFORMED VOTERS?

Despite entering Thursday ranked 10th among the NHL scoring leaders, Avalanche center Paul Stastny was 12th among Western Conference forwards in the latest round of All-Star voting.

Captain Joe Sakic is fourth among forwards but will not be able to play in the Jan. 27 All-Star Game in Atlanta because he is expected to be out eight to 12 weeks after hernia surgery.

Stastny, in his second season, leads the Avalanche with 15 goals, 28 assists and 43 points.

Voting for the All-Star game ends next week.

BITTERSWEET GOAL

Playing in only his fourth NHL game, Avalanche rookie Cody McLeod, right, scored his first career goal.

The only thing he would have changed was the game's outcome.

"It's definitely something you want to do when you're growing up - play in the NHL. And then to get a goal, that's kind of a bonus," McLeod said. "It was a tough one to lose."

HE SAID IT

"They've been like that for the last 10 years - at least - so nothing's really changed."

Andrew Brunette, Avalanche forward, on the Red Wings, who lead the league with 59 points and boast the best regular-season record in the NHL since 1995-96.

Aaron J. Lopez