If you listened close in the Pepsi Center on Thursday night – or at least had an active imagination and knowledge of the coaches’ backgrounds – you might have been able to hear a few choruses of “Brass Bonanza.”
That was the old Hartford Whalers’ catchy anthem. And because the men running the benches Thursday – Dallas’ Dave Tippett and Colorado’s Joel Quenneville – were Whalers teammates, they heard the song plenty.
That’s probably not what the two were talking about in a postgame hallway chat after Tippett’s Stars came back from a two-goal deficit, sent the game into overtime and ended up taking a 3-2 victory over the Avalanche in a shootout.
Despite blowing the lead and losing as goaltender Peter Budaj’s shootout woes continued, this wasn’t a complete stinker for the Avalanche. Dallas goalie Marty Turco kept the Stars in it with 37 regulation and overtime saves, and then stopped Joe Sakic and Alex Tanguay as the Stars had a 2-1 edge in the shootout. Marek Svatos, going first in the rotation for Colorado, beat Turco, but his veteran teammates couldn’t follow suit.
At the other end, Budaj – playing his first game since New Year’s Eve – was beaten on the penalty shots by Sergei Zubov and Jussi Jokinen. His one stop, on Mike Modano, wasn’t enough, and the hard-luck rookie goalie is 0-4 in shootouts.
Budaj has been beaten eight times on 11 penalty shots in the four losses.
The Pepsi Center fans headed to the exits when Turco made a pad save on Tanguay. That sealed the Stars’ second shootout bonanza of the season over the Avalanche.
“It’s the second time I’ve seen him in shootouts,” Turco said. “It was different moves, but there are zero preconceived notions on my part going in. It’s just read and react. Sometimes you get lucky and move the right way or fall. … Regardless, they’re fun for everybody involved, and they’ve been helping us this year.”
Fun for everyone, including goalies?
“No, not at all,” Turco said. He smiled and added: “It is. It’s a great challenge. Goalies obviously take pride in having a good time and accepting challenges and making a difference for your teammates.”
Turco is unbeaten in five shootout appearances, and Svatos is the only skater to beat the Dallas goalie on the opposition’s 12 shootout attempts.
After taking a 2-0 lead on power-play goals from Rob Blake and Tanguay, on a breakaway triggered by a John-Michael Liles pass, Colorado couldn’t get anything else past Turco. The Stars pulled even on goals by Jason Arnott and then, with only 1:59 remaining in regulation, Stu Barnes. On the tying goal, Budaj made the save on Philippe Boucher, but the rebound went right to Barnes in front.
Only a few seconds later, Turco made two tough saves on Tanguay, keeping the game tied, and it ended up going to the shootout.
“We had the game in our hands and unfortunately we gave up that goal,” Budaj said. “It’s frustrating.”
During the lockout season, Budaj played for the Avalanche farm club in Hershey, Pa.
“I won a lot of shootout games last year,” he said. “But it’s two different leagues and different shooters. With the shootouts, the players are going to eventually get better and better and better, because they’re going to get used to it. … Personally, I just have to get better.”
Staff writer Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
