Stastny scores in Avalanche return

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 04:15 p.m., February 22, 2008
Updated 11:44 p.m., February 22, 2008

Photo by Roy Dabner / Associated Press

Avalanche forward Paul Stastny celebrates after scoring a first-period goal against the Phoenix Coyotes. The Avalanche won in a shootout in Stastny's return to the lineup after missing 15 games.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Cody McLeod’s strategy was simple enough.

“I just wanted to hit the net,” he said. “Luckily, it went in.”

It was desperation time for the Avalanche and coach Joel Quenneville, who was down to seven skaters in the team’s longest-ever shootout competition when he tabbed McLeod, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound grinder, to take a stab against Phoenix Coyotes goalie Mikael Tellqvist.

Finally, as the Avalanche’s 12th shooter in the breakaway competition, McLeod, who has three goals in 29 regular-season games, managed to snap the puck behind Tellqvist for a 3-2 win Friday night before 15,882 at Jobing.com Arena.

A victory was secured when Avalanche goalie Jose Theodore made a save against Keith Yandle, the Coyotes’ final shooter.

Salvaging the extra point was vital for the Avalanche, which had lost five games in a row and squandered another third-period lead, this time on a goal by Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris with 2.8 seconds remaining and Tellqvist on the bench for an extra attacker.

“It’s huge in the standings,” McLeod said after the Avalanche moved one point ahead of the Coyotes into ninth place in the Western Conference and within two of the final playoff berth.

Asked if he might try to persuade Quenneville to move him up in the pecking order in future shootouts, McLeod laughed.

“No, we’ve got lots of good snipers here,” he said. “They can use me for the 12th or 13th guy whenever they need me.”

It was the Avalanche’s second shootout game in a row, one that followed a 3-2 loss Wednesday in Anaheim.

“We’ve lost a lot of ground over the last week and a half, so this was a positive,” Quenneville said. “It gives us a little enthusiasm going into Canada.”

The Avalanche still has to play Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver to complete the five- game trip.

Avalanche goalie Theodore stopped 27-of-29 shots through the 5-minute overtime and 10- of-12 in the shootout.

“You take one shot at a time,” said Theodore, who has a 3-1 record in shootouts this season and is 6-2 in his career. “That’s a situation that’s almost ... you don’t like being in it, but you like it at the same time. I was kind of mad at myself because we scored two goals and I couldn’t close the deal.

“When (McLeod) scored, I said, ‘I got to make sure that’s it because I think 12 (shooters) was enough.’”

Paul Stastny, who returned to the lineup for the first time since his Jan. 17 appendectomy and scored a first-period goal, said he and his teammates were nervous during the shootout as one player after another was denied by each goalie.

“It was nerve-wracking on the bench for about 15-20 minutes of overtime,” he said. “Cody got a big one at the end and ‘Theo’ made big saves. It was a good team effort, and we got a big win here.”

Marek Svatos broke a 1-1 tie and the Avalanche’s 0-for-24 slump on power plays at 9:09 of the second period. It was the Avalanche’s first power-play goal since Brett Clark, now on injured reserve with a dislocated shoulder, scored one Feb. 9 against Vancouver.

Svatos was in the left circle when he one-timed a pass from Scott Hannan past Tellqvist, beating the goalie to the short with a wicked shot for his first goal in five games and team-high 26th of the season.

The Avalanche only had two more shots in the period, none on a power play that started 13 seconds after Svatos’ goal.

The Coyotes opened the scoring at 10:16 of the first period on a two-man advantage with Scott Parker (tripping) and Karlis Skrastins (holding the stick) sitting next to each other in the penalty box.

After Radim Vrbata launched a shot from the left circle, Shane Doan and Steven Reinprecht went to the net and each got a stick on the puck, with Reinprecht nudging it across the goal line.

It marked the eighth consecutive game in which the Coyotes produced a power-play goal and the ninth game in the past 10 that the Avalanche allowed one.

The Avalanche tied the score on Stastny’s goal at 14:08. Stastny took a pass from Jordan Leopold at his own blue line and skated up the ice into the Coyotes’ zone. He faked a shot to momentarily freeze Morris, took a shot that Tellqvist stopped, then moved by Morris to the net and knock in the rebound.

“I felt good,” Stastny said. “I was a little tired. I hadn’t played a game in over a month, but I felt pretty good.”