Los Angeles – The Avalanche thought Pavol Demitra would be one of its own this summer. After losing Peter Forsberg to free agency, the Avs looked around for another top forward, and made Demitra an offer they thought he would accept.
That is, until the Los Angeles Kings swooped in at the last minute and made a better offer. Saturday night at the Staples Center, Demitra showed why there was a fuss over him.
The former St. Louis Blues winger scored a hat trick to lead the Kings to a 4-3 victory over Colorado. His goal with 3 minutes, 32 seconds left in regulation broke a 3-3 tie and prevented the Avalanche from a perfect three-game road trip.
Demitra’s final goal came with former Blues teammate Pierre Turgeon in the penalty box for boarding. It was Turgeon’s only bad move of the night, as he scored two of Colorado’s goals and set up the other.
“I talked to the referee, and he said my elbow was up a bit,” Turgeon said. “I didn’t feel like it was (that bad). It was just a body check.”
Avalanche goalie David Aebischer did not have a stellar showing after sitting the previous two games, and his spot as the team’s No. 1 goalie may be in jeopardy.
Not all the goals were his fault, especially a Demitra short-handed breakaway goal in the first period. But Aebischer allowed a soft third goal of the night, also by Demitra, early in the third period. He was beaten to the short side from deep in the corner on a shot that deflected slightly off Avs defenseman Patrice Brisebois, but it was still a save he should have made.
“We needed that save on the third goal,” Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. “That was a tough one, certainly.”
The Avs took a 1-0 lead at 7:29 of the first period, on Alex Tanguay’s eighth goal of the season. The score happened with Colorado on a 5-on-3 power-play advantage that almost went by the boards. The Avs had the 5-on-3 for 1:53, but hadn’t scored with the final seconds ticking down but Tanguay converted a Turgeon crossing pass in front of the net.
The rest of the period belonged to the Kings. Demitra and Sean Avery scored goals for Los Angeles, the latter coming at 19:09 for a 2-1 Kings lead. Avery pressured Avs defenseman Ossi Vaananen into a turnover to the Kings’ Eric Belanger, who fired on net and watched Avery convert the rebound. Demitra scored at 12:12 on a short-handed breakaway.
The Avs struggled offensively at the start of the second period, but Aebischer kept it a one-goal game and near the end of the period Colorado tied it up. Turgeon did it, notching his 501st career goal. He put home a short shot after a lot of scrambling around the Kings’ net.
The Kings took a 3-2 lead at 5:12 of the third on Demitra’s second goal. The lead didn’t last long, though, as Turgeon tied it. The goal came after he took a puck that was turned over by the Kings and fired a wrist shot past Kings goalie Mathieu Garon at 9:47. For Turgeon, it was his second three-point game in three contests.
“But we didn’t get the two points as a team,” Turgeon said. “That’s what it’s all about. We had a good road trip and did a lot of good things tonight. But we didn’t quite get it done.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
