Uniondale, N.Y. – David Aebischer got his first start in nearly two weeks Saturday, and it ended ignominiously – with the Avalanche’s goaltender getting yanked in the third period of Colorado’s strange 5-4 loss to the injury-depleted New York Islanders at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
After allowing the Islanders’ fifth goal on Chris Campoli’s soft shot from the far side of the faceoff circle to his left at 4:29 of the third period, Aebischer gave way to backup Peter Budaj, then stormed through the gate at the corner and did some kicking in frustration in the hallway.
At the time the Avalanche trailed 5-2, and the third-period goals by Marek Svatos (his second of the game) and Alex Tanguay got Colorado within one. In a sense, though, that only further highlighted Aebischer’s play as the major culprit.
The fact that he didn’t go to the bench wasn’t a major problem, because the benches are cramped in the archaic Coliseum, and Budaj watched from the tunnel himself after the first period to give the Avalanche more room. But there was no question that Aebischer, who allowed five goals on only 19 shots and also kicked in the Isles’ first goal, blew his chance to get back in the good graces of Colorado coach Joel Quenneville.
“He wasn’t very good,” Quenneville said. “He didn’t help himself.”
Said Aebischer: “I’m disappointed. I’m not playing well right now. … I felt pretty good. I thought I moved well. I guess right now it’s more in the head than anything else.”
How can he snap out of it?
“I just have to keep working and be ready the next time I play,” he said.
The problem with that notion is Quenneville likely will be reluctant to play Aebischer again soon. After the game, the Avalanche coach said he hadn’t decided who would be in the net tonight against the New York Rangers. It would be a shock if Aebischer got the start ahead of Budaj or Vitaly Kolesnik, who had played the previous four games.
Budaj became ill during the first period and wasn’t feeling good after the game, either. But that was in keeping with the trends of the night. Budaj was ill, and Aebischer’s play made his coach sick – well, at least figuratively.
“We showed some resiliency trying to get ourselves back in the game,” Quenneville said. “Actually, the first five minutes weren’t bad. The first goal hurt, and the rest of that period was not good. The last 40 minutes were basically how we have to play.”
To be fair, the Avs at times were turnover- and mistake-prone in front of Aebischer. It would be tough to fault him on the goal that gave the Islanders a 4-1 lead, because Patrice Brisebois slid backward into Aebischer and didn’t allow him a fair chance at Mark Parrish’s shot from the left-wing circle.
The Avalanche never could pull even, though it made it interesting with Svatos’ 16th goal of the season with 2:43 remaining, had a power play for the final 1:19 after Mike York was called for tripping, pulled Budaj for a 6-on-4 advantage and put pressure on. But Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, who finished with 29 saves, had to make only one stop in the final siege.
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
