Going into the season, didn’t you figure the Avalanche would be in good shape when games went to the NHL’s new penalty-shot shootout? Especially because Colorado can send out – in quick succession – Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay?
Well, so far, that conventional wisdom was as off target as the Avalanche has been in its three shootouts.
And Monday night’s shootout failure was the most painful. What went into the books as a 3-2 defeat to Calgary in a highly entertaining game at the Pepsi Center meant Colorado lost a point to the Flames in the Northwest Division standings.
Working against former Avalanche goaltender Phil Sauve, Sakic, Hejduk and Tanguay failed to score in the shootout. The Flames were only 1-for-3 against hard-luck Colorado goalie Peter Budaj, but the one success – from Tony Amonte as the second shooter – was enough to secure the two points for the Flames.
In the three Avalanche shootouts this season – all losses – Colorado has only one success in seven shots. Tanguay is 1-3, Hejduk 0-2, Marek Svatos 0-1 and Sakic 0-1.
Because the Avs hadn’t gotten to the third shooter in the two previous shootouts, and Sakic was slotted there, he hadn’t gotten an opportunity until Monday, when he went first against Sauve and couldn’t convert.
“I don’t know if (Sauve) was over there,” Sakic said, “but I just missed the net and hit the outside of the post. There’s really no excuse for that.”
Shaking his head, he added, “Maybe in practice, we’re going to have to start working on penalty shots.”
Conversely, Budaj has been in the net for all three Colorado shootout losses, and he hadn’t stopped any of the five shots he faced against Chicago and Dallas. Again, Budaj played well in regulation, making 32 saves, and neither Jarome Iginla nor Chuck Kobasew could get the puck past him in the shootout. But Amonte’s shot through Budaj’s legs stood up as the winner.
“The shootout was a little better,” said Budaj, a 23-year-old Slovakian. “I stopped one … I just need to make sure I work on that. I know it’s going to turn around.”
Those who opposed the introduction of the shootout as the tiebreaking procedure probably could point to all the attention on the shootout as opposed to the 65 minutes of conventional hockey. That illustrated that the entertainment quotient doesn’t have to be tied to the number of goals, even in the New NHL of modified rules and the obstruction crackdown.
The Avalanche battled back from a 2-0 deficit that wasn’t a fluke, but was well-earned because the Flames dominated the first period and got goals against Budaj from Byron Ritchie and Craig MacDonald. The Avalanche came back on Pierre Turgeon’s eighth goal of the season, at 13:50 of the second, and Rob Blake’s fifth, on a backhander off a feed from Brad May, at 9:49 of the third.
But Sauve, making only his third start of the season in place of workhorse Miikka Kiprusoff, played well. It was a bit of redemption for the 25-year-old who was sent down to Hershey when the Avalanche acquired veteran Tommy Salo at the trading deadline in March 2004, and then sent to Calgary for a draft choice in August.
“The satisfaction is that it was a big win for our hockey club,” Sauve said. “In my situation, I don’t get a chance to play very often, so when I get out there, I want to do whatever I can.
“To tell you the truth, everything is perfect the way it is right now. Speaking personally, I’m very happy where I’m at and I think it’s the best thing that could have happened to my career. Everything’s OK on that issue.”
Staff writer Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
