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Anaheim bares fangs as root canal delays Sakic return

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 24, 2008 at 10:29 p.m.

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Avalanche goaltender Peter Budaj turns away a shot by Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf during the second period Monday night.

Photo by Gus Ruelas / Associated Press

Avalanche goaltender Peter Budaj turns away a shot by Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf during the second period Monday night.

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The Avalanche eagerly awaited the return of Joe Sakic for Monday night's game at the Honda Center, but the plan had to be scrapped when the 39-year-old captain needed an emergency root canal.

Coach Tony Granato, whose offense has been bone dry for more than a month, surely could have used the future Hall of Famer against the Anaheim Ducks, who skated to a workmanlike 4-1 victory before a crowd of 16,632.

"We said it all the way through that we'd love to have him in our lineup and we look forward to having him back, but we still have plenty of guys to get the job done," Granato said.

They didn't get it done against the Ducks, who got two power- play goals from former Avalanche right wing Teemu Selanne, one each in the first and third periods.

Discounting goals awarded for shootout wins - the Avalanche has four - Granato's team has managed to produce as many as three goals in a game twice in the past 13, since a 4-1 win against Edmonton on Oct. 23.

"Losing the guys that we've lost in the last week or so is never easy," defenseman John-Michael Liles said. "Especially when you're struggling to score goals, even with them in the lineup, let alone losing them, it doesn't make things any easier.

"It's not an excuse, it's just something that's kind of compounding the problem right now. We have to find a way to push through that. Score more goals, that's really the bottom line."

An awful power play - the Avalanche is in a 4-for-43 drought with the man advantage after going 0-for-4 on Monday - has been a major contributing factor in the lack of firepower.

"Our power play actually moved the puck well, we just didn't finish," Granato said. "Their goalie (Jean-Sebastien Giguere) made some big saves on their penalty kill."

The Ducks have struggled at home this season, but they built a 3-0 lead through two periods to chase goalie Peter Budaj, who began the night on a hot streak and was replaced by Andrew Raycroft after facing 19 shots.

Raycroft hadn't played since Oct. 30, when he yielded four goals on 14 shots to Columbus and was relieved by Budaj after two periods.

He didn't have a chance when Selanne, who has 12 goals this season and 112 in 211 games after his one season with the Avalanche in 2003-04, one-timed Chris Pronger's pass into the net at 11:17 of the third period with Paul Stastny serving a hooking penalty.

The Avalanche had drawn to 3-1 at 2:13 when Ian Laperriere deflected Liles' shot behind Giguere.

"You saw the kind of goal we got, that's the kind we need to get things going," said Stastny, who has one goal in the past 10 games. "It's frustrating, but it's been like that for a while. We can't whine about it, we just have to keep working hard."

The Ducks scored twice in a span of 3:20 in the first period to take a 2-0 lead, with Selanne and Chris Kunitz connecting against Budaj.

Selanne scored on a power play after the Avalanche was penalized for having too many skaters on the ice. He was in the right circle when he took a pass from Corey Perry and slid the puck into a half-open net at 10:19.

Kunitz followed at 13:39, 3 seconds after the Avalanche finished killing off a hooking penalty to Tyler Arnason. Brendan Morrison passed from behind the net to Kunitz in the right circle. When Budaj leaned to his right to peer around defenseman Ruslan Salei, leaving the near post exposed, Kunitz found the opening.

The Avalanche had a chance to close the gap with a two-man advantage that began late in the period, lasted 55 seconds and carried into the second period. But the Avalanche didn't convert on it or the ensuing five-on-four advantage that lasted 1:25.

Pronger collected his fifth goal of the season at 6:51 of the second period with a slap shot from the right point that found the far corner of Budaj's net to make it 3-0.

ETC.: The Avalanche lost forward Darcy Tucker to a left knee injury at 3:48 of the third period. Tucker was hurt in a collision with Morrison and needed assistance getting to the trainer's room. "He'll see the doctor in the morning, and we'll see where it's at," Granato said. "(Injuries) are part of the game. It's part of why you have depth and minor-league affiliates that, hopefully, can supply players."

Comments

  • November 25, 2008

    7:16 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    GeeTee writes:

    Hey -- let's hear some more about how well Budaj is playing! What hot streak? The Avs are LOSING when he plays. Sure, the offense has been offensive lately, but a goal is a goal and Budaj is letting too many get in the net. Who cares about the 30 he stops -- if he's so good at it, why can't he stop the other 3 or 4 -- OOPS, that's Josie's nickname!!

    Budaj is AHL at best.

  • November 25, 2008

    7:26 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    VVVV writes:

    Selanne is NOT a former Av. He had to play for us before he earned that moniker, and he did nothing of the sort for his rediculous paycheck. He was worth less than worthless.

  • November 25, 2008

    9:40 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    BchNSnwGirl writes:

    GeeTee, are you on crack?!? The only reason the Avs have pulled off any wins of late is because Budaj was in that net. He's been stellar and even the team has said he's saved their bacon on more than one night over the past two weeks. Last night's loss was not his fault. He should not have even been in the game. I was at the rink and you could just see how tired he was the minute he stepped on the ice. Granato blew that one.

  • November 25, 2008

    2:04 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    americanario writes:

    Did Budaj play well last night, no. Did he play horribly, no. He started ten straight games and after standing on his head in most of the previous 9, he was tired. The guy is facing a lot of shots this season. Any one who saw his interview after the Kings game saw he was tired then. And now the Avs are going to be playing 3 games in 4 nights. Budaj has to be rested at least one of those. But then again it won't matter unless he shuts out the other team because he has no offense in front of him. The team is in trouble and Budaj is the lone man trying to keep the ship from sinking (OK maybe Lappy and one or two others on any given night).