Sakic's return not enough in irksome loss to Edmonton

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Monday, February 25, 2008

Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images

Joe Sakic has been activated and is expected to return for the Avalanche's game tonight vs. the Oilers in Edmonton.

Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images

Joe Sakic has been activated and is expected to return for the Avalanche's game tonight vs. the Oilers in Edmonton.

Avalanche general manager Francois Giguere arrived in the Great White North on Sunday after attending NHL meetings in Florida, and he couldn't have been too pleased with what he saw from his perch in the Rexall Place press box.

That could prove ominous with the NHL trading deadline set for 1 p.m. MST Tuesday.

Needing a win to pull two points back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Avalanche lost 3-2 to the Northwest Division cellar-dwelling Edmonton Oilers.

Captain Joe Sakic was in the lineup for the first time in three months and he picked up a first- period assist on a Ben Guite goal for a 2-0 lead, but his presence didn't prevent the Avalanche from squandering it with some listless second-period play.

It was the third consecutive game in which the Avalanche failed to hang on to a lead.

"It's a huge loss for us," said coach Joel Quenneville, who could be feeling some heat with his team totaling nine goals in a 1-5-1 rut to fall four points out of a playoff position with 19 games remaining.

"This was a game we had to win when we're up 2-0."

Andrew Cogliano capped the Oilers' rally at 7:29 of the third period when he streaked uncontested down right wing and beat goalie Jose Theodore with a shot to the far side.

"We didn't play the game that we should have played with a two-goal lead," said Sakic, who was injured in a Nov. 30 game against San Jose, underwent hernia surgery Dec. 28 and missed 38 games, the longest stretch of his NHL career.

"It just happens," he added. "There's no explanation for that. It wasn't good enough. We didn't match their effort in the second period and it cost us. We can't give up games like this.

"The good thing for us is, most of our games from here on in are division games and teams that we have to catch. We've got to beat those teams."

The 38-year-old center spent the first two periods on a line with Wojtek Wolski and rookie David Jones, the latter of whom was replaced by Hejduk in the third period. Sakic also played the point on power plays and killed penalties.

The Avalanche played poorly in the second period, didn't register a shot on goal against goalie Mathieu Garon for the first 15 minutes and turned a 2-0 advantage into a 2-2 tie.

"We weren't good at all," Quenneville said. "We didn't generate anything, didn't have the puck at all and turned it over in some areas. You can't play like that; that was the game."

Said forward Andrew Brunette: "It's unacceptable, especially with how we have to play. We should know better. It's similar to what we did last year and in parts of this year. It's not acceptable."

Oilers rookie Sam Gagner converted the rebound of Ales Hemsky's shot at 4:38 of the second period and Curtis Glencross tied the score at 11:05 after the Avalanche's Ian Laperriere turned over the puck to Kyle Brodziak at the Colorado blue line.

"We felt comfortable, I guess (with a 2-0 lead), and we thought the game was done pretty much," Laperriere said.

"You just can't do that at this time of the year or any time of the year. It's frustrating and disappointing to play like we played in the last 40 minutes.

"Especially now, with 19 games left, we just can't do that."

It looked promising for the Avalanche when Tyler Arnason scored 27 seconds into the game and Guite followed with his career-high ninth goal, at 12:53.

"We mentioned going into the second period that we have to be better, and we weren't," Quenneville said. "When you think it's going to be an easy game and you're going to get some production . . . we were in a checking mode instead of a creating mode."

ETC.: Hejduk has gone seven games without a point and he has two goals in 12. . . . To make room for Sakic on the active roster, the Avalanche assigned rookie T.J. Hensick to the Lake Erie Monsters in the American Hockey League. Hensick had six goals and five assists in 31 games. . . . Defenseman Jeff Finger missed his second game because of a hand injury. . . . Wolski played after being a healthy scratch Friday against Phoenix. . . . Forward Jaroslav Hlinka was scratched for the third game in a row.

Oilers 3, Avalanche 2

Colorado2 0 0 - 2

Edmonton0 2 1 - 3

First period - 1, Col, Arnason 8 (Brunette, Svatos), :27. 2, Col, Guite 9 (Sakic, Wolski), 12:53. Penalties - Laperriere, Col, major (fighting), 5:24; Roy, Edm, major (fighting), 5:24; Staios, Edm (hooking), 13:57.

Second period - 3, Edm, Gagner 7 (Hemsky, Pitkanen), 4:38. 4, Edm, Glencross 8 (Brodziak), 11:05. Penalties - Cumiskey, Col, (hooking), 2:22; Hejduk, Col, (tripping), 12:12; Glencross, Edm (hooking), 15:04.

Third period - 5, Edm, Cogliano 10 (Nilsson, Grebeshkov), 7:29. Penalty - Greene, Edm (hooking), 13:56.

Shots - Col 11-3-15 - 29. Edm 6-8-6 - 20. Power plays - Col 0 of 3; Edm 0 of 2. Goalies - Col, Theodore 16-17-2 (20 shots-17 saves). Edm, Garon 20-16-1 (29- 27). A - 16,839 (16,839). T - 2:14. Referees - Eric Furlatt, Steve Kozari. Linesmen - Don Henderson, Shane Heyer.

NUMBERS GAME

1 goal in 31 power plays for the Avalanche in the past seven games.

GLOVES COME OFF

Ian Laperriere will exchange punches with anyone, and the Avalanche forward was more than willing to accept Mathieu Roy's invitation in the first period. But he took exception to getting hit after the players went down in a heap on the ice.

"It's happening around the league and it's very disrespectful," Laperriere said. "It's a battle, one guy against another guy, and sometimes when guys go down you see those young guys keep punching. I just told him, 'You shouldn't do that,' and he understands exactly where I was coming from."

The bout was Laperriere's 15th this season.

HE SAID IT

"I cut it just to make myself look a little younger."

Ryan Smyth, 32, on having his signature mullet shorn.

SLUGGISH RETURN

It has been a struggle for Smyth since he returned from a broken ankle that caused him to miss 18 games.

The high-priced free-agent signee has yet to produce a point in six games since rejoining the lineup, and he was scoreless in three consecutive games before getting injured New Year's Eve against Phoenix.

Smyth played 20:25 on Sunday and had two shots on goal. He has one assist in five games against his former Oilers teammates.

"I thought I was a little more involved in this game than I have been in the past," he said. "You got to get back to the basics and play simple and try to crash the net like I did a few times."