Glendale, Ariz. – All Brett McLean needed for the “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” on Saturday night was a goal. But the fight and his two assists were just fine in a 5-2 Avalanche victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.
McLean, the Avs’ unheralded fourth-line center, might have been their best player in the year-ending victory, Colorado’s third in as many meetings with Phoenix this season.
McLean got into a surprising scrap with Phoenix’s Mike Comrie right after the opening faceoff. That didn’t show up on the scoreboard, of course, but McLean’s fight seemed to get the Avs into battle mode early. After dismal losses against Los Angeles and San Jose, Colorado seemed like a harder-working outfit against Phoenix.
“I think it was something (Comrie) wanted to do for his team, and I wanted to do that for our team,” McLean said. “We kind of knew, I guess, what kind of hockey game we were in for after that.”
McLean had the best assist of the night, a spinning backhand feed to Ian Laperriere for the first of his two goals, one that gave the Avs a 2-0 lead at 11 minutes, 29 seconds of the second period. Laperriere, who tied a career high with his 13th goal later in the game, said the fact that it was McLean throwing down the gloves was an inspiration.
“It surprised everybody,” Laperriere said. “You’ve got to give the guy credit. He didn’t play much in the beginning of the year, but he was working really hard in the gym. He stayed in shape to wait for that call to play more. He made a great pass to me.”
The win moved Colorado back ahead of Phoenix for eighth place in the Western Conference. That’s not where the Avs are accustomed to being at this time of the season.
“Right now, it looks like it’s going to be tight all year long,” Avs winger Milan Hejduk said.
Hejduk continued his fine play of late with a first-period goal. His fourth goal in three games gave the Avs a 1-0 lead, and Laperriere extended it before Denis Gauthier cut the lead in half for Phoenix at 12:16 of the second. Goalie Peter Budaj made some excellent saves to keep the Avs up 2-1 after two.
The Avs regrouped and played a solid third period, getting goals from Pierre Turgeon (a tip of Rob Blake’s power-play slapper) at 1:33, and Laperriere and Andrew Brunette.
“I thought we had a tremendous game. It was a real good response to a real bad performance (Friday) night,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said.
Count Quenneville among those pleasantly surprised by McLean’s contributions, especially with his fists.
“I thought it was good, old- time hockey there,” Quenne- ville said. “You’ve got to give both guys credit for getting engaged in that. I thought Mac had a real nice game. His whole line was very effective tonight.
“We were rock solid in the third period, so you like to see that on the road after a tough night before.”
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
