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Avs are no match for Stars without Forsberg, Foote

Aaron J. Lopez

Published March 9, 2008 at 5:27 p.m.

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Avalanche left wing Jaroslav Hlinka is stopped on his shot attempt by Dallas goalie Marty Turco during the second period of Sunday night's game. The Avalanche were shutout by Turco as the Stars won 3-0.

Photo by © Associated Press

Avalanche left wing Jaroslav Hlinka is stopped on his shot attempt by Dallas goalie Marty Turco during the second period of Sunday night's game. The Avalanche were shutout by Turco as the Stars won 3-0.

Peter Forsberg has looked good during his first three games back with Colorado this season, but he missed Sunday's game vs. Dallas with a groin injury.

Photo by Dennis Schroeder / The Rocky

Peter Forsberg has looked good during his first three games back with Colorado this season, but he missed Sunday's game vs. Dallas with a groin injury.

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DALLAS - Had it been the overplayed nightmare scene from a bad movie script, Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville would have bolted upright in bed drenched in sweat and in need of a drink of water.

Instead, Quenneville had to watch the painful images play out in front of him as he and his players got an unsolicited flashback to how things were when they were slumping only two weeks ago.

Already playing without injured forward Peter Forsberg (groin) and defenseman Adam Foote (hip), the Avalanche lost defensemen Jordan Leopold and Ruslan Salei to injury in a 3-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on Sunday night.

Leopold suffered a head injury after being slammed into the board by Stars tough guy Steve Ott in the first period, and Salei suffered an eye injury while fighting Ott moments later.

Salei was scheduled to fly to Denver today for further evaluation, and Leopold could return for the game Tuesday in Atlanta. Colorado also is playing without injured forwards Ryan Smyth and Marek Svatos.

"Everybody has guys in and out of the lineup as you go along," Quenneville said. "We don't feel sorry for ourselves. We've got to persevere. We've still got a road ahead of us that's going to be challenging, so that's where we're at."

Even before the injuries to

Leopold and Salei, the first 19 minutes of the game summed up the Avalanche's misfortunes.

No shot.

Facing an agitated team still stinging from a 3-1 loss at the Pepsi Center, the Avalanche could not match the Stars' intensity or shot production in the rematch at American Airlines Center.

Colorado fell behind 2-0 in the first 5:25 of the game and didn't put a shot on net until the final minute of the first period.

"We knew they were going to come out hard, and we didn't have a very good first period. Actually, we were awful," Avalanche captain Joe Sakic said. "We didn't respond. That was really the game."

The lackluster performance brought an end to the Avalanche's season-best six-game winning streak and cost Colorado an opportunity to move into first place in the Northwest Division.

Shortly before the puck dropped in Dallas, the Minnesota Wild regained the division lead by gaining one point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks.

With 80 points, the Avalanche remained in seventh place in the Western Conference, two ahead of Vancouver and ninth-place Nashville.

"Let's be honest here: Dallas back-to-back (is tough)," Colorado forward Ian Laperriere said. "They took the game to us in the first. It's just that they had the edge and we lost two of our (defensemen).

Even before the injuries started piling up, the Avalanche knew it would be tough to beat Dallas for the second time in as many days.

The Stars had lost three in a row and came out firing shots and looking to make big hits.

It was Ott's hit that ultimately took out two birds with one stone, leaving Kurt Sauer, John- Michael Liles, Jeff Finger and Scott Hannan to handle double- duty on the blue line.

"That's part of being a team," Sauer said. "You just roll with it."

The Avalanche, short on defense, could not make up for it on the other end as goalie Marty Turco was solid in net for the Stars, stopping 19 shots for his third shutout this season and the 33rd of his career.

Turco was able to sit back and watch for much of the first period as the Stars came out with something to prove.

Stu Barnes beat Jose Theodore just inside the left post just as a power play ended 3:56 into the game, and Stephane Robidas scored 1:29 later on a long slap shot from the high slot.

Theodore kept the game from getting out of hand, stopping several good scoring opportunities, but Dallas took a commanding 3-0 lead on Mike Richards' 19th goal this season, 6:55 into the second period.

Theodore, making his ninth straight start, finished with 18 saves and saw his longest winning streak in six years come to an end. He was replaced by Peter Budaj to start the third period as Quenneville tried to shake things up in hopes of a comeback that never materialized.

NUMBERS GAME

224 games since the Avalanche went a full period without recording a shot on goal. The streak almost ended Sunday night, when the Avalanche managed only one shot on net in the first period of a 3-0 loss to the Dallas Stars. Scott Hannan was credited with the shot in the final minute before intermission.

INJURED ALREADY?

It didn't take long for Peter Forsberg to end up on the injury report.

Three games into his Colorado comeback, the forward didn't play Sunday night because of a groin injury.

Forsberg, who had two assists against the Stars on Saturday, felt some pain during that 3-1 win against Dallas and is listed as day to day. He could return Tuesday against the Atlanta Thrashers.

"We've had three very intense games coming into (Sunday's) game in a short amount of time and that might have been part of it as well," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We'll see how it shakes out here in the next day or so."

Throughout his NHL career, including 10 seasons with the Avalanche, Forsberg missed dozens of games because of injuries ranging from groin and abdominal problems to a ruptured spleen to foot and ankle problems.

In addition to Forsberg, the Avalanche was without defenseman Adam Foote, who missed his second game in a row because of a hip injury. Foote took part in pregame warm-ups and hopes to be back against Atlanta.

SWINGIN' SAUER

In a rare occurrence, Avalanche defenseman Kurt Sauer dropped his gloves in the first period, fighting to a draw with Stars defenseman Trevor Daley.

"It's been awhile," Sauer said. "I was a little rusty, but it went all right."

It was the first fight for Sauer since March 8, 2004, the night Vancouver forward Todd Bertuzzi ignited an on-ice brawl when he sucker- punched Avalanche forward Steve Moore.

Stars 3, Avalanche 0

Colorado 0 0 0 - 0

Dallas 2 1 0 - 3

First period - 1, Dal, Barnes 9 (Daley, Norstrom), 3:56. 2, Dal, Robidas 7 (Modano, Richards), 5:25. Penalties - Salei, Col, (hooking), 1:56; Daley, Dal, minor- major (roughing, fighting), 8:11; Sauer, Col, major (fighting), 8:11; Salei, Col, minor-major (roughing, fighting), 12:31; Ott, Dal, major (fighting), 12:31; Grossman, Dal (holding), 17:47.

Second period - 3, Dal, Richards 19 (Morrow, Modano), 6:55. Penalties - Sakic, Col, (hooking), 1:41; Norstrom, Dal (hooking), 13:47.

Third period - None. Penalties - Robidas, Dal (hooking), 9:13.

Shots - Col 1-11-7 - 19. Dal 12-9-5 - 26. Power plays - Col 0 of 4; Dal 0 of 3. Goalies - Col, Theodore 22-18-2 (21 shots-18 saves), Budaj (0:00 third, 5-5). Dal, Turco 30-16-4 (19-19). A - 18,532 (18,532). T - 2:21. Referees - Dave Jackson, Dennis LaRue. Linesmen - Brian Murphy, Vaughan Rody.

Comments

  • March 10, 2008

    7:33 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    R8R_H8R writes:

    When the Avs announced Forsberg was going to play that first game, I commented that it's a mistake, he's only practiced twice, and he's risking either a groin injury or a pulled hammy. I'm gonna go back, find that article, print it, and shove it up the coaches asterik.

  • March 10, 2008

    9:10 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    BWilliams writes:

    Where was Scott Parker? I'd have much rather seen him going after Ott than Salei. It would have helped calm down Dallas who were clearly licking their chops for this game. And what is up with Leapold? That guy folds like a leaf every time he is touched.