In 144 games the previous two NHL seasons, otherwise known as the “dead puck” era, Patrice Brisebois scored eight goals for the Montreal Canadiens. In nine games with the Avalanche in the new NHL, Brisebois has five.
Number five on the young season was a big one for the Avs. It broke a tie game with 48.5 seconds left in regulation Tuesday night, and Colorado went on to a 5-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at the Pepsi Center.
It came in his 800th NHL game, and Brisebois now has 84 career goals. Imagine if he had started his career in the new era.
“It’s definitely a more offensive style out there,” Brisebois said. “The coaches want me to jump into the play more, and I don’t mind that.”
Brisebois’ slap shot through a screen beat Oilers goalie Jussi Markkanen, and the Avs came from behind for a change to win at home. After blowing a 2-0 lead and falling behind 3-2 in the third to Edmonton, Avs winger Alex Tanguay scored with 6:15 left to tie it – a fortunate goal that went in off the stick of Oilers forward Radek Dvorak.
“It was an important win for us,” Brisebois said. “Alex got a bit of a break on that goal, but we’ll take it. We played great at the start and had a little letdown again. We’ve got to get out of that habit. We fell asleep again.”
For the third time in four home games, the Avs blew a multi-goal lead and appeared in trouble after Edmonton’s Raffi Torres scored a backhand goal at 4:12 of the third to make it 3-2.
But Tanguay said the Avs’ near comeback victory at Vancouver on Saturday night played a part in their not panicking when they fell behind.
“We were still pretty confident,” Tanguay said. “We were not happy losing the lead again, but we kept working hard and didn’t get down on ourselves.”
Avs coach Joel Quenneville was livid after Edmonton made it 2-2 on the power play. He called a timeout and let his team have it. The message:
“We were giving it back to them,” Quenneville said. “We had to get our composure back.”
Quenneville was most unhappy with some penalties his team took after leading, a trend he wants stopped.
“We’ve had a few games now to get the message about (the calls),” he said.
After that, the coach was pleased.
“The guys kept at it,” Quenneville said. “The message tonight was to get pucks on net. ‘Breezer’ has had a nice start to the season. He puts the puck hard on net every time.”
The Oilers, in last place in the Northwest Division after a fast start, did not make coach Craig MacTavish happy.
“We have a 3-2 lead with six minutes to go and we lose … by the same stupid mistake that we’ve been making time and time again,” MacTavish said. “Junior- league player mentality. It’s rampant through the team. The turnovers – just get the puck deep, it’s not a complex game.”
Avs goalie David Aebischer made many nice saves among his 25, and Antti Laaksonen, Wojtek Wolski and Steve Konowalchuk also scored for the Avs, who face back-to-back games with division leader Vancouver at home Thursday and Saturday.
“It’s an important week for us, an important home stretch,” Tanguay said. “We’re going to have to play well for three periods. They will be two tough games, but we know we can win if we play our game.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
