Avs offense still on vacation

Washington's two goals plenty as slump continues

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 10, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Photo by Associated Press /

Avalanche center Jaroslav Hlinka shields the puck from Washington Capitals center Boyd Gordon during the first period Wednesday night in Washington.

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Goalie Jose Theodore sure looks like he's gotten his groove back.

Too bad his Avalanche teammates expected to produce at the other end of the ice aren't following suit.

The Avalanche's offensive problems continued Wednesday night in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center, wasting yet another strong performance by Theodore and raising some doubts that this team can stay in the hunt for a playoff berth without injured stars Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth.

The Avalanche, which fell 1-0 on Tuesday in Detroit, was in danger of suffering back-to-back shutouts for the first time since November 2001 until Marek Svatos converted Wojtek Wolski's return pass with 3:21 to play.

"It's extremely frustrating," forward Andrew Brunette said. "I can't put a finger on it. I don't know. I mean, it's just been one of those things where we're having trouble. It's a confidence thing, scoring goals, and right now, we're a little low on it.

"I think if we can get our power play going - we've talked about it all year - if we get one there on the road, maybe things start going."

Well, the Avalanche failed to score on two more power plays, running that slump to 19 in a row in a seven-game stretch in which the club has posted a 1-5-1 record and dropped into ninth place in the Western Conference.

Imagine how Theodore must feel, turning aside 45 of 48 shots in the first two games of this five- game excursion and having nothing to show for it.

"It's frustrating again," he said. "I think we got to stick with it and keep playing the same type game and get that extra goal when we need to. We need the points and we got to find a way to win."

The game was scoreless for two periods - the Avalanche totaled only nine shots in the first 40 minutes against goalie Olie Kolzig - before the Capitals broke through at 2:51 of the third on a tip-in by Donald Brashear.

"Jose kept us in the game, gave us a chance," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said.

But even Theodore couldn't prevent the Capitals from scoring what turned out to be the decisive goal with 3:59 remaining, as back- checking Avalanche rookie Kyle Cumiskey inadvertently knocked the puck past the goalie's left arm after Washington's David Steckel skated to the net.

Steckel was credited with the goal that put the Capitals ahead 2-0.

"He came back, he played hard," Theodore said of Cumiskey. "Just a bad break. Those things are going to happen. It just seems like right now this is the difference. We're getting some (bad) breaks like that that's costing us games."

The Avalanche didn't show many signs of life until after Svatos scored and Theodore left the ice for an extra skater.

Tyler Arnason, who missed the previous 12 games while recovering from a fractured wrist, forced Kolzig to make two saves in the final 15 seconds, one with his left skate and the other with his glove.

"The second shot I didn't get all I wanted on it," Arnason said. "The first one, I kind of fanned (on it), but it kind of worked. It was going in the corner (of the net), but he got a toe on it."

Meanwhile, too many of the Avalanche's top healthy scorers remained mired in huge slumps. Paul Stastny has gone 10 games without a goal, Milan Hejduk eight games without a point and Brunette seven games without a goal. Wojtek Wolski has one goal in eight games.

"We don't mind playing these (tight-checking) games, but we're having a hard time generating offense," Quenneville said. "They played a heck of a game; they checked well. We're not getting much production and that's what we're looking for.

"We've tried a few things with the lines, moving them around, (trying to) generate something from somebody. That's a challenge right now. We've lost a lot of tight games lately. We're looking for the timely goal."

And still looking.

"You're looking for production and you go through stretches where you only make changes when you're not scoring. That's what we're looking to do, spread it out and, hopefully, one of the lines gets ignited and sparks us. You go through stretches where some guys don't score. That's why you try to split them up and (hope) something catches."

sadowskir@RockyMountainNews.com

Capitals 2, Avalanche 1

Colorado0 0 1 - 1

Washington0 0 2 - 2

First period - None. Penalties - McLeod, Col, (holding), 7:41; Finger, Col, major (fighting), 16:28; Bradley, Was, major (fighting), 16:28; Nylander, Was (holding), 17:11.

Second period - None. Penalties - Hejduk, Col, (hooking), 9:55; Liles, Col, (delay of game), 12:37.

Third period - 1, Was, Brashear 3 (Laich, Bradley), 2:51. 2, Was, Steckel 4 (Gordon, Jurcina), 16:01. 3, Col, Svatos 17 (Wolski, B.Clark), 16:39. Penalties - Steckel, Was (hooking), 7:14.

Shots - Col 4-5-10 - 19. Was 6-8-9 - 23. Power plays - Col 0 of 2; Was 0 of 3. Goalies - Col, Theodore 8-10-1 (23 shots-21 saves). Was, Kolzig 15-16-4 (19-18). A - 16,168 (18,277). T - 2:18. Referees - Steve Kozari, Tim Peel. Linesmen - Steve Barton, Tim Nowak.

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