When it comes to shootouts this season, the Avalanche has not exactly been a collection of Gary Coopers or John Waynes.
The Avs again shot blanks Saturday night in a shootout, losing their second such game, 3-2 to the Dallas Stars at the Pepsi Center.
“We haven’t been very good at them, not even in the preseason,” Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said.
In having their four-game winning streak snapped, the Avs lost leads of 1-0 and 2-1 and lost 2-0 in the best-of-three shootout. Rookie goalie Peter Budaj had a carbon-copy performance of his other shootout loss, last month against Chicago; Budaj was great in regulation, with 33 saves, and beaten on the two shots he saw in the shootout.
“It’s disappointing, because I wanted to win this game really bad, keep this winning streak alive,” Budaj said. “But unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”
The Avalanche did not play poorly, just not good enough to win against a Stars team that was tough the final 40 minutes. Too many penalties hurt Colorado, especially in the second period, when Dallas had four power-play chances.
Stars forward Antti Miettinen converted one of them to tie the game at 2, at 17 minutes, 53 seconds. The Avs had a great opportunity to win in overtime, when they got a power play at 2:27. But they couldn’t get anything past Stars goalie Marty Turco, who was outstanding all night.
“The penalties in the second period changed the momentum in their favor,” Quenneville said.
Quenneville wasn’t thrilled by the play of his team’s top line of Joe Sakic, Alex Tanguay and Milan Hejduk. They failed to get a point and were a combined minus-3.
“That line had a tough night,” he said. “They could have been a little better.”
Hejduk, who missed all of training camp and the first seven games following knee surgery, has one goal in his past six games.
“He looks like he’s still not quite there yet, but I think he’s a smart enough player that he’s still effective in other areas,” Quenneville said.
Andrew Brunette and Steve Konowalchuk scored for the Avalanche. Brunette’s came with the Avs on the power play and Konowalchuk’s when Dallas was on the power play. But a Pierre Turgeon tripping penalty at 16:06 of the second gave Dallas the chance it needed to tie the game.
Right before the call, Sakic missed a partially open net with a shot after being set up by Hejduk off the rush.
“I’m not very happy with the shot I took there,” Sakic said. “The side was open, and I missed the net. For me, that’s disappointing.”
Sakic acknowledged, “We were in the penalty box too much. It gave them some momentum when a goal might have put them down in a hole.”
Budaj has played four games so far, with the Avs scoring three or fewer goals in support three times.
For Turco, the brash Stars veteran, it was his and the organization’s first appearance in a shootout. He made saves on Hejduk and Tanguay, while the Stars got goals from Sergei Zubov and Jussi Jokinen. Turco’s save on Hejduk was spectacular, with his left pad.
“It’s a different level of fun,” Turco said. “It’s a competitive fun. We all share the excitement, as players and fans. My first reaction was how loud it was in here.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
