Rob Blake is rapidly turning from a minus into a plus.
The Avalanche defenseman, an NHL-worst minus-8 at one point this season, has it whittled down to minus-3 for the year after a strong showing Thursday night in Colorado’s 4-3 victory over Anaheim at the Pepsi Center.
Blake was a plus-3, scoring a goal in his game-high 23 minutes, 46 seconds. The goal gives him 10 points in 12 games, and worries about his style of game in the new NHL appear to have been unfounded.
“The team is playing better overall defensively,” Blake said. “We’ll take the two points tonight. In the third period, we were a little flat, but we played well other than that.”
Healey sent to Lowell
The Avalanche reassigned left wing Paul Healey to Lowell of the American Hockey League on Thursday.
Healey did not record a point in the two games he played for Colorado after replacing Wojtek Wol- ski in the lineup. Healey had 14 penalty minutes.
Sakic moves up NHL list
Joe Sakic’s second-period goal tied him with Doug Gilmour for 14th on the all-time NHL points list, at 1,414. Sakic scored on a trademark wrist shot at 1:25 of the second to give the Avs a 3-1 lead.
McNab to the Olympics
Avalanche television analyst Peter McNab has been hired by NBC as one of its hockey commentators for the 2006 Olympics in Italy.
Footnotes
Avs right wing Dan Hinote returned to the lineup after missing five games because of a back ailment. … Defensemen Bob Boughner and Kurt Sauer were the Avs’ healthy scratches. … Alex Tanguay extended his point streak to 10 games with a first-period assist for Colorado.
