Detroit – If Brad May’s shot goes past Manny Legace, it’s a tie game in the third period and the Avalanche has the momentum.
But the shot hit the post, the Detroit Red Wings stayed one goal ahead and it wasn’t long before the Avalanche had a 7-3 defeat handed to it Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena.
Joel Quenneville wasn’t in the mood for any looks at the bright side, though. The Avalanche coach had a grim look when discussing his team’s fourth loss in the past seven games. Among the things that drew the coach’s ire was a no-goal performance on a two-minute, 5-on-3 power-play in the first period, and a lack of “strength on the puck” all three periods.
“That’s my theory: you don’t score on a 5-on-3, you never win the game,” Quenneville said. “That was part of it tonight. It was a factor. A two-minute 5-on-3, you’ve got to score. You want to make sure you’re strong on the puck, especially against that team. We can be more physical, be it on the forecheck or defensive zone coverage.”
While May’s shot off the post would have made it a 4-4 game in the third, the fact is the Avs didn’t deserve to win the game. These certainly aren’t the old days, when dozens of big hits would be served by both teams; Colorado was credited with only 11 hits in the game to Detroit’s 20. The Avs allowed too much time and space to Detroit’s skilled forwards, instead of playing the dump-and-chase game that was on the chalkboard as a pregame strategy.
“If we get the puck deep and work them down low, I think we have a lot better hockey game,” May said. “If it’s 4-4 after I hit the post, I think it’s a different outcome for sure. So, that’s frustrating.”
Shortly after May hit the pipe, the Wings made it 5-3, after Avs defenseman Rob Blake was caught pinching too deep in the offensive zone, allowing Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk to break out on a two-on-one with Jason Williams. Williams easily buried Datsyuk’s cross past Avs goalie Peter Budaj.
For Budaj, it was probably his first poor showing as an NHL goalie. He wasn’t to blame on a couple of the goals, as they came on odd-man rushes and power-play chances. But he never made the kinds of saves that can bail a team out on a bad night.
“He was just OK,” was Quenneville’s succinct response to how Budaj played.
Said Budaj, “It wasn’t a good game for me or the team. Detroit played a real good transition game. Starting from me to everyone else, we didn’t play our game.”
For the Avs, it was another night in which they didn’t get much from their best and highest-paid players. The top line of Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay did not score a goal. Blake didn’t produce a point and was minus-2, while defenseman John-Michael Liles did score but was minus-4.
Sakic does not believe the Avs, 2-4-1 in the past seven, are in a funk. But too many of the same problems have been cropping up lately.
“When we turned it over, it was either high in their end or in the neutral zone,” Sakic said.
Andrew Brunette, Ian Laperriere and Liles scored for the Avs. Mikael Samuelsson scored twice for Detroit, which broke a four-game losing streak.
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
