Avs stalled out in Motor City

Theodore sharp, but Colorado falls to NHL's top team

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 8, 2008 at 11:39 p.m.

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Photo by Gregory Shamus © Getty Images

Avalanche goalie Jose Theodore dives for the puck between the Red Wings’ Tomas Holmstrom, left, and Pavel Datsyuk at Joe Louis Arena. Theodore made 24 saves in the 1-0 loss.

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Even a near flawless road game doesn't guarantee success against an elite team such as the Detroit Red Wings.

That was the case Tuesday night, when the Avalanche became the latest victim of the NHL's version of the Big Red Machine, giving the Red Wings all they could handle before falling 1-0.

Not that the Avalanche could take much solace in kicking off the second half of the season and a five-game trip with a loss, its fifth in the past six games heading into tonight's match with the Washington Capitals (5 MST, Altitude).

Jose Theodore, coming off a 2-1 overtime win against the New York Islanders, stopped 24 of 25 shots in a performance that usually would be good enough to secure two points.

" 'Theo' played great for us, and that's what we needed coming into this building," defenseman John-Michael Liles said. "If we had just generated a few more chances, gotten a few more pucks at the net."

Dominik Hasek wasn't tested nearly as much in the Red Wings crease, but he made a couple of his 19 saves in the final minute with Theodore on the bench for a sixth attacker to collect his third shutout of the season and 79th of his extraordinary career.

"We're missing Joe and 'Smitty,' " Theodore said, referring to injured forwards Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth. "The way our guys played, I'm really proud of them. Detroit is obviously right now the best team in the league. You see the way they play; they play hard, they play good defensively.

"We didn't back down. We played really hard and it was a close game. I'm really frustrated, but I'm proud of the guys. We had some good chances in the third (period). Hasek came up big when he needed to. We tried, but we just couldn't get one (goal)."

How powerful are these Red Wings? They have gone 18-2-2 since Nov. 24 while outscoring opponents 78-37.

Pavel Datsyuk scored the only goal Tuesday with 1:39 remaining in the second period, 3 seconds after the Avalanche finished killing an interference penalty to Ben Guite, the first penalty of the game.

Defenseman Niklas Kronwall took a shot from the right point that hit teammate Tomas Holmstrom, who had his back to the net while screening Theodore.

The puck dropped to the ice and Holmstrom quickly shoveled it across to Datsyuk just outside the crease on the left side for a shot inside the near post.

"That's what he does best," Theodore said of Holmstrom, who missed the Red Wings' previous eight games with a back injury. "Him and (Smyth), they should have played goalie because they play in front of you. You don't see anything and by the time you try to see where the puck is, a lot of times it's on the either side and you're pretty much in no-man's land."

That's pretty much where the Avalanche will be without Sakic and Smyth unless forwards such as Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk pick up the offensive slack.

Stastny leads the team in scoring with 44 points, but he has only three assists and no goals in the past nine games. Hejduk, tied with Stastny for second on the team with 15 goals, has gone seven games without a point.

"Definitely when we are not scoring. . . . I don't mean to say we won't have a chance to win, but it makes it tough for the team," Hejduk said. "We have to start scoring goals and help the team."

While frustrated with the outcome, Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville couldn't fault his team's effort.

"I thought we worked like dogs," he said. "We checked very well and eliminated what they generally can create. It was a low- chance game and obviously that was a big goal they scored.

"It was the type of game we had to play and we gave ourselves a chance. Jose was solid as well. You can't complain when you get an effort like that."

The Avalanche had only one third-period power play - the Red Wings had two for the game - and didn't register a shot on goal, extending its drought with the man advantage to 17 in a row in a six-game span.

Red Wings 1, Avalanche 0

Colorado0 0 0 - 0

Detroit0 1 0 - 1

First period - None. Penalties - McCormick, Col, (cross-checking), 16:40; Chelios, Det (roughing), 16:40.

Second period - 1, Det, Datsyuk 17 (Holmstrom, Kronwall), 18:21. Penalty - Guite, Col, (interference), 16:18.

Third period - None. Penalties - Liles, Col, (high-sticking), 6:18; Franzen, Det (tripping) 12:14.

Shots - Col 9-3-7 - 19. Det 11-7-7 - 25. Power plays - Col 0 of 1; Det 0 of 2. Goalies - Col, Theodore 8-9-1 (25 shots-24 saves). Det, Hasek 14-6-2 (19-19). A - 19,160 (20,058). T - 2:13. Referees - Dean Warren, Don Van Massenhoven. Linesmen - Greg Devor ski, Andy McElman.

sadowskir@RockyMountainNews.com

Avalanche at Capitals

* When: 5 MST tonight.

* Where: Verizon Center, Washington.

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

* Leading scorers

Colorado (22-17-3) G A P

C Paul Stastny 15 29 44

RW Milan Hejduk 15 15 30

RW Andrew Brunette 6 21 27

LW Wojtek Wolski 13 13 26

RW Marek Svatos 16 2 18

Coach:

Joel Quenneville

Washington (17-20-5) G A P

LW Alex Ovechkin 32 20 52

C Michael Nylander 10 25 35

C Nicklas Backstrom 8 22 30

D Mike Green 11 13 24

C Viktor Kozlov 4 20 24

Coach:

Bruce Boudreau * Injuries: Colorado - C Joe Sakic (hernia surgery), D Kurt Sauer (concussion) and LW Ryan Smyth (fractured ankle) are on injured reserve; C Tyler Arnason (broken wrist) is probable. Washington - D Tom Poti (upper body) and D Brian Pothier (upper body) are day to day.

* Sidelight: Because of the 2004-05 lockout and the emphasis on divisional play in the NHL's post-lockout schedule, the Avalanche hasn't played in Washington since March 16, 2003, a 2-1 loss.

* Notes: The Capitals have gone 11-6-4 since Boudreau replaced Glen Hanlon as coach Nov. 23. . . . Washington hasn't played since its 5-4 overtime win Saturday in Montreal.

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